Everybody Wants to Rule the World
by outlook96
Summary: Stuck in the body of a 16 year old, 216 year old heretic Tatum Stark has to help her great great great nephew, Tony Stark, prevent half the universe from disappearing. She has spent her whole previous life not giving a damn, and with the universe ending, her heart started to grow fond of the dorky spider-boy named Peter Parker
1. Chapter 1

**It is likely that I will just never finish a fanfiction, ever. So if you're reading this and you're from a Stranger things, Teen Wolf, Supernatural, or a Maze Runner fanfiction, just know I'm likely abandoning all works beside Stranger Things and Spider-man. Also, I'm obsessed with the Supernatural? I literally incorporate it into every story I write; so don't kill me. I'm a bad author, clearly, but my creative juices just flow and I need to get it out as I am going CRAZY over endgame.**

**My ideal look for my character is based off of Kiernan Shipka in Sabrina. Her demeanor will not be ANYTHING like her, but I just love her whole look. There's a lot of ideas I stole from other shows, such as hunters from Supernatural, a witch background from CAOS, Vampires and heretics (which is a vampire/witch) from the Vampire Diaries.**

**Don't sue me, anyone. Also If I hear you complaining about it... you are totally right. i'm just passionate about the avengers, mainly Peter and Tony.**

**My plan is to focus on the relationship between Tony and my OC, as well as Peter and my OC. I also want to flashback to my character's life a lot, as I feel it's important to completely wrap your head around her.**

**If you are confused as to what a heretic is, I am following TVD in that it is a half witch, half vampire.**

**Without further adieu... enjoy.**

* * *

_Welcome to your life_

_There's no turning back_  
_Even while we sleep _  
_We will find You acting on your best behavior_  
_Turn your back on mother nature_  
_Everybody wants to rule the world_

* * *

Stuck in the body of a 16 year old, 216 year old heretic Tatum Stark has to help her great great great nephew Tony Stark prevent half the universe from disappearing. She has spent her whole previous life not giving a damn, and with the world ending, her heart started to grow fond of the dorky hero dressed as a spider.

* * *

Her cropped hair flurried around her face as the passing transit made its way past her. She cursed as a strand of strikingly blonde (nearly white) hair managed to connect with her pink lip gloss.

She tucked the strand behind her ear, shaking her head as she made her way down the quiet street in Brooklyn.

It was late, too late for her. She was a grumpy old man. Hell, she was nearing her 217th birthday after all.

Life as a heretic hand't treated her too well; with watching the death of nearly everyone you loved occurring while you never aged. She thought back to a simpler time, a time when she merely a witch, the traits of a vampire non existent.

Her parents were head of the Aries coven, which she took pride in still to this day. Her and her younger brother Theodore were the only children of the Stark's. Again, something she took pride in; but when it came to the day when the undead shoved blood down her throat and murdered her in cold blood; things changed.

She was different. She was shunned. The second she had woke up from her death she had been exiled from the Aries coven. She was claimed unnatural. Witches had been fed the blood of a vampire and killed before, but it was rare that said witch would wake up from it, earning both sets of unnatural abilities. He told her to run, to get to safety, because he knew what they'd do to her if she was found.

She was irrational; she fed on mortals. She grew angry at her family, angry at the world. She lashed out on silly mortals, those she could dispose easily and gain only power and food from. How could her own family have treated her like that? How could they shut her out, just like that? Her whole life up until just after her 16th birthday, she had desired to be exactly like them. She had yearned to be her mother, sitting next to the head of the coven with her soon to be prince charming.

She had thought back to a boy, a boy she dreamed of once marrying. His name? James Abraham. He was older than her, only by a year. The young warlock fascinated her, though. He peaked her curiosity, and with him teaching her new hexes and different spells, she was easy to fall into infatuation with him.

Who knew a few months later she'd snap his neck and feed off of his cold, dead, corpse.

She remembered the night she had woken from her death, the night things had changed. Vampire's weren't even a thought in the back of her mind until then, let alone a heretic. She had learned about them in Academy of Dark Arts, but everyone treated it as merely a myth.

_Her soaked hip-length hair shielded her eyes from the moonlight. When she finally managed to gather up enough strength to flutter her eyelids open, she was met with darkness. She was lying on the embankment of the Ades River; a close ater source for her village. The rapids were strong, and she was in a dangerous area where she was told not to play near when she was mere a child._

_With as much strength as she could muster, she pushed her body to a stance._

_She felt drunk. She had only been drunk once before, with James; but this, this was different. Her body swayed, she felt dizzy. She was hungry... so so hungry. What had happened to the events following her waking up at the river? Her brain was so foggy. It hurt to think. She wanted to sleep, but with winter approaching, she was scare of hypothermia._

_She struggled to shuffle back to her cottage. Making her way through the forest, the quickest route to her home, she stumbled over branches and trees. She coughed up water as she made her way along the overgrown trail._

_How had she ended up there? How had no one found her? Did her parents know she was gone? It was sort of a ritual for their coven to complete a spell and then let those who had passed float down the river. Had someone mistaken her death? _

_She tripped for the umpteenth time, and this time, she laid there for a bit. The forest floor wasn't particularly comfy, but it wasn't that uncomfortable either. She could feel the water bubble in her chest, and a small tickle started before she sputtered. She coughed once, twice, and then she ger into a fit, water draining from her lungs just as they had before._

_She didn't know how she had managed to make it back to her cottage, but she had. Her memory had faded in the last few minutes before she arrived to her home. Her muddy knuckles rapped against the door lightly. "Mama? Papa? It's me."_

_She heard the rustle inside the house; then she heard whispering._

_"It's probably just an echo, Julian. Ignore it." That was her mothers voice, how had she heard that? Sure, the walls were thin, but the most she should've been able to hear was muffles. She had just learned about the spirit realm in school. Echo's were those who had not passed, who had not released they were dead. It was the psychic imprint left. A ghost of a ghost._

_"Echo or not, that's Tatum. I'm sure of it."_

_"You know how the undead works, my love." Her mother whispered. "If it truly is an echo, you must let her spirit be free on it's own. You cannot save her."_

_She heard her father sob. _

_"It hurts, I know. We must be there for Theodore though." She could hear the strain in her mothers voice as she comforted her father._

_"Mama!" She pounded harder, "Papa!"__._

_"Papa!" She yelled louder, "Theodore!" her voice croaked as she called her brother's name and she coughed up more water._

_The creaking door swung open, and she was met with the eyes of her father._

_"No," Was all he said. His face let off more emotions than she could see in his eyes. She could see the way he stared at her, like she was a monster. "No, no no..." He had acted like she really WAS a ghost. "Tatum. You must go."_

_"What? Papa! But why?" Tears welled in her eyes._

_"You must go. You must go and never come back, you hear me?" There was pain in her fathers voice._

_"No-"_

_"Listen to me, daughter. You must listen. " He knelt down on one knee. "You must run. You must run or they will find you. They will find out. Do not stop running."_

_"What's happening Papa?"_

_As if on cue, an arrow flew past her and hit the side of her now former-home._

_"Witch hunters..." he gasped. He grabbed her by her shoulders. "Listen to me, girl! You must run. Don't look back. They will hunt you until your last dying breath."_

_"Papa but I don't want to go..." She could feel the tears brim over, betraying her attempt at a strong demeanor for her father. "I don't want to-_

_"ARGH!" He clutched at the arrow that had embedded itself into his right thigh. "GO, MY GIRL! GO AND DON'T LOOK BACK."_

Tears streamed down her face as she ran from her father.

_"I love you" She had heard him whisper moments later._

_She shook the thought from her mind._

_That was a long time ago, things had changed since then. Her hair was no longer golden and down to her knees, she didn't wear ballgowns and she most certainly did not have her father there to protect her anymore._

_She kept tabs on them long after she had disappeared. Her family had died suffering, though. The tuberculosis outbreak was more than anyone could comprehend. Her mother was the first to go, and then her brother. Her brother's wife was next, and then her father. sShe would never forget seeing him in that hospital bed, his hair tainted with grey and his cheeks gauntly caved in. She wasn't sure if he would recognize her still; after tens of years._

_When he had caught sight of her, though, it was as if nothing had changed._

_"Tatum," he coughed, his voice hoarse and breaking. "My baby girl... my baby." She had leaped to his side, squeezing his fragile body into a tight embrace. She could feel his weakness, something that she had never seen her father wear. "I knew you would come."_

_"Father...?" His eyes blinked rapidly. "Father I'm sorry... I can fix this father. I can help heal you.__"_

_"No, my love. I wish not to be changed, I wish to return to the dark lord; return to Theodore and your mother." He swallowed, and then coughed loudly, his body seizing as he did so._

_"Did you run, daughter?"_

_"Yes," She nodded, "I ran. I did some bad things father... Things I cannot ever forgive myself for doing."._

_"It's okay, my love. It's okay. The Dark Lord forgives all reckless acts. The Dark Lord would not judge you for what you have done to our coven."_

_Her time as a witch seemed short lived, and her time as a vampire left her thinking less of Satan and his covens around the globe._

_"I was waiting for you, Tatum..." he coughed again, and she heard him go still "I was waiting_.." _She waited for his last dying breath, and she sobbed when she heard the final beat of his aching heart._

That was the last of her immediate family, and that was more then a hundred years ago.

Things were different now, she was no longer the weak heretic tied to her family, no, she was the heretic of hell that every witch and vampire hunter were lurking after. It felt good to be so sought after, it gave her confidence. She had grown cocky over the years, she couldn't even remember the last time she had shed a tear. She wasn't blood thirsty anymore; she was careful. She saw no reason to kill unless threatened, and to live co-dependently besides mortals made living a little bit easier.

She didn't mind the hunters, gave her some practice in fights, and she really didn't care all that for their lives. She wasn't big on feeding in public anymore, which meant frequent trips to the hospital to steal blood bags. She wasn't big on the killing, either. It made people suspicious of her, and she hated to admit it but there were some good hunters out there, and she wasn't too keen on meeting them. Specifically, the Winchesters and their damn bloodline. She had been hunted from the moment she had left her cottage in Massachusetts 200 years ago. She also disliked the thought of moving again. She had found a part time job at an office that kept her busy, enjoyed hobbies like jogging and drinking at the bar with her fake ID.

She tapped her key fob against the screen leading to her apartment building, and the glass doors slid open with ease. She made her way through the quiet lobby and took the elevator to the top floor. She yawned as she puttered down the dimly lit hallway to the very last room.

She placed her key inside the look, jiggling the stiff latch and turning it. Just as her usual routine went, she kicked off her shoes and placed her bag on the small tabletop by the entry way. She had yawned, tired from her nightly jog.

She peered down the hall to the large window that gave her a view of most of New York. She was happy with her little bachelor pad, she wasn't too big on privacy and didn't mind the window panel that took up the whole North wall. The place was expensive, sure, but she had saved up enough money on her 216 years on earth to be able to afford most things. Not that she was loaded, but she wasn't struggling financially either.

"Tatum Stark." She looked up from where her eyes were glued out the window, and saw Tony Stark come into view. "I see you're not in the Geriatrics unit in the group home yet. That's good. Any sign of Alzheimer's yet?"

She rolled her eyes, "You're blocking my view, Tony."

He shook his head, "I am the view."

She groaned.

He stepped towards her, shoving his hands into his dress pants. "That's no way to great your nephew, is it?"

Tony was her only living blood at this point, being her brother, Theo, son's son's son, or something like that. She wasn't totally sure. "That's no way to treat your great great Aunt," she retaliated.

"Great great great Aunt, actually."

"Yeah whatever," She sighed, trotting over to her fridge. She grabbed a bag of O negative, stabbing a straw in it like it was a Capri sun, and started slurping.

"That's disgusting," He grimaced.

"So is your face, but I haven't complained about it till now, have I?"

"God you're insufferable. 200 years on earth made you a real bitch."

"So I've been told," She retorted, jumping onto the sofa and kicking her feet up. "So to what do I owe the pleasure?"

He sighed. "Well, I've been thinking-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I'm gonna say." He argued, his hands throwing up in the air.

"I do, and the answer is no." She glared. "I'm not about saving people like your precious avengers, Tony. I'm not exactly a saint."

"I'm not asking you to be a saint."

"But you're asking me to save people," She argued, taking a long sip. "Tony, I don't care. You always do this. You visit me every couple of months, rant to me about your precious team or Pepper or the world falling apart, and then you beg me to come stay with you, and then you disappear again. Everything always works fine without me, so there's no point in joining you."

"I'm asking you for an important reason, Tatum" He took a step towards her, his voice raising as he spoke to her like the 16 year old child she truly was. "I'm not asking you to be an avenger, or a super hero, or a super villain even. I'm asking you for help." his voice lowered, apologetic almost. "I'm asking you because I truly need you, this time. The world does."

She sighed. She was bored, but she didn't feel great about the idea of saving humans when she had wiped out plenty of their species before. She almost felt guilt, and it wasn't something she felt often. She had grown to appreciate mortals; even envy them.

"It's Thanos." He muttered, his tone changing. "I've been thinking about him none stop ever since the attack in New York. I have nightmares about him, my mind is always on his next move, and now it's all become a reality."

"Go on,"

He perked up at her response, never truly having grabbed her attention before. "He's looking for the infinity stones, every last one of them. He's got the Power stone from Xander, he murdered the Loki. He wants to wipe out half of the galaxy's population, Tatum. If he gets all six infinity stones, and he will find a way, things are going to change a hell of a lot."

She sighed, pursing her lips as she glanced away from him.

"What if that's you, huh? What if you end up disappearing?"

"Well, then that's how I go, I suppose," She sighed, finishing the rest of the bag and tossing it behind her directly into the trash bin, her head not even moving to check it's place.

Tony's eyes followed the bag as it sailed across the room, but he was unphased at the action. "I don't think you realize the severity of this."

"Don't talk to me like I'm a kid, Tony." She growled, kicking her feet off the couch and resting her elbows on her knees. "I've definitely lived my time on this earth. I've watched people outlive me over and over and over," She droned on, "I've tried every drug and tasted every sip of alcohol under the sun, I've died more times then I can count, and come back to life the same amount of times. I've spent most of my life alone, and if that's how I go out; so be it."

He stabbed a finger, "You're being selfish. You were human once, or don't you remember?"

"Tony," She sighed, "Everyone I have ever loved has died."

"But everyone I love hasn't," he hissed, "-and I'm not about to let that happen."

She hummed over his response for a long moment. Tony Stark did not have a heart. He did not show empathy, he did not show love. He was cold, he was calculating. He was the way he was because of his father; and she knew that. She spent a long time working for his father long before Tony's birth, and she knew how cold-hearted he was. Like father-like son. Tony was not one to beg, and she actually _could _see the severity of the situation just from the conversation.

"And what if the world doesn't end, and someone recognizes me with the avengers, huh? Witch hunters will be on my ass like that" She snapped her fingers aggressively.

"We could find you a disguise."

"I'm not wearing spandex."

"You don't have to." There was a long pause. "I know how strong you are, how powerful you can be. The fact that you can even perform spells and you have super human abilities just proves how different you are from the rest of your kind."

She bit her lip.

"If you even care about me, even a little bit," He pressed his thumb and his pointer finger together till they were nearly touching, leaving a small gap between them. "-you would help me out. You can do everything under your circumstances, but please. We need your help."

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she puzzled over his query. She wasn't going to deny the small tiny particle in her body that cared for him, and he was possibly the only thing that kept her in the United States; knowing he would visit her every few months. She hated his rants, but she also loved to listen. She hated how he treated her like a child, but she did look like one. She hated the way he pestered her to join him at the compound every time they talked, because she knew eventually she would give in.

"Fine."


	2. Chapter 2

_Staring awake at the ceiling_  
_You promised never to forgive_  
_Tearing apart at the seams, baby_  
_You better learn to fucking live_

* * *

"So where is everyone, exactly?" She asked, striding into the compound. It was a grand building, jet planes and fancy cars and all. She entered through the glass entryway, a poor choice in the design considering it was so fragile. Knowing Tony though, it was probably some high tech bazooka proof glass. The architecture was easy on the eyes and certainly very large.

She paced backwards as she walked ahead of Tony, gesticulating to the open concept entryway. "I mean, I can't hear that many heartbeats, not much noise besides the garage. Are they on sort of mission?"

He sighed, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as she approached her, to which he earned a frown from her.

"Is this about the Sovolia Accords still?"

He gave her a tight lip smile frown.

"Tony, why did you even ask me if you haven't made up with your precious Cap?"

"It's complicated, okay? But if it comes to saving the world, or holding a grudge against me, he'd choose the earlier."

"You really think this is going to happen, don't you?" She cocked a brow. "You really think he'll win."

"I don't know, okay?" He sighed, "All I know is that I'm not taking any chances; the Avengers were created for a reason." He slapped his palms against his thighs. "I am going to try as hard as I can, we have to try as hard as we can."

"We?" She pointed to herself, then back to Tony. "There is no we, okay?"

"Stop fighting me like the kid you look like and just listen to me." He growled. "You likely don't feel the same, because you never show ANY emotion at all, but I have a small tiny part in here," He pointed to his chest, "That is actually a little fond of you, so if you would just listen, the sooner this will all be over. Okay?"

She shook her head in frustration. He had a point, but she didn't like it.

"Okay, so why'd you bring me here, huh?"

He stepped closer to her. "Something going to happen soon, in New York. The doctor warned me."

"The one with cape and the orange spinny things?" She gestured by waving her hands in a circle.

"So you do keep up," He smiled.

She shrugged, "I have a lot of free time on my hands," she changed the subject. "So how much time do we have?"

"The doc said a day."

"What the hell Tony," She made a face, "So why'd you bring me here?"

"Because," he answered, "It's kind of a waiting game at this point and I need to test your skills. Besides, I flew Pepper somewhere safer and we are basically just sitting ducks at this point.

She frowned, crossing her arms. She could hear the echo of her footsteps in the quiet fortress, it was almost eerie. She had always thought the compound would be loud, bustling with voice of superheros, robots, and employees. "I've got a training ground outside, thought we could do a little practice."

"Ah what the hell," She shrugged, "Probably put up a better fight then half the hunters on my ass, plus I'd feel good to beat you to a pulp."

"Ah ah," He wagged his finger, "No near death experiences, I don't know if you forgot but we actually have to do shit tomorrow. And no destroying my suit. I need it tomorrow."

"Whatever," She paced away from him.

* * *

"So... telepathy?"

"No."

"Telekenisis?"

She shrugged, "Sometimes."

"Mind control?"

"Not unless I give you a potion," She smirked.

"Summoning?"

She nodded, "I haven't in a while, but yes."

"Okay," Tony removed his glasses and his sweater, placing them on a bench just before the outdoor training grounds. "What else is there? Do you just flail your wand around, bippity boppity boop? Harry Potter stuff?"

"You know, if you didn't talk about yourself so much I might've actually told you this stuff before."

He grumbled.

"Well, it all depends how strong I am, or how weak I am; rather. A lot of my 'witchy'" she finger quoted "side, doesn't pertain to a lot of the mortals I am around. Summoning, Binding, Warding, Hexing, it's all stuff that I've only applied to the supernatural or mortals. Demon Trapping, Demon Banishing, Demon exorcisms... I've never really tried most of this stuff on superhumans or alien beings."

"Gimme more." he waved his hand towards him, "What else you got."

"Chlorokenisis, Atmokeneis sometimes, summon hellfire."

"Dumb it down for me a bit, I don't know witchy talk."

She rolled her eyes, "Plants, weather, fire."

"That's better." He fist bumped his chest, striding towards her. "Now show me what you got?"

"Alright," She shrugged, "But you asked for it." With her quick speed, she flashed over to the other side of the courtyard.

"You're quicker then I remember!" He commented, laughing.

Again, she rolled her eyes at him.

She watched as the armor of iron encompassed him, and he flew into the air, orange beams and air expelling from his palms and soles. He shot the beams of light towards her, and she dodged them. She could feel the heat radiating from them, telling her how painful it would be if she came into contact with it. Beam after beam, he shot it out of his suit but she zoomed around each one of them.

She could hear his frustration as she sped around him. She looked up at him with a triumphant smile, to which he let out a low growl. He lowered to the floor, his feet planting on the cement.

She wasted no time in darting towards him, raising her arms to start her attack. She threw punch after punch, slamming her arms against the shield that Tony was now equipped with. She took one long breath, and grabbed the shield to use it against him. She spun around a few times, ignoring his then released him once she had enough power.

He had landed with a loud metal scrape, letting out an exasperated laugh. "Not bad, Ms. Stark."

"Neither yourself," She complimented.

He went above her again, shooting beams of light from his palms once again, and she did her best to avoid most of them, but they came quicker and stronger now Every so often the side of her face or her arm would skim them, and she felt the sizzle of flesh, but then it sewed itself back together as she healed.

She clenched her fists together, outstretching them as she prepared to summon hellfire. her head whipped around, trying to find Tony above her, and when she had watched him land, giving her a good chance, she touched the ground. She felt the palms of her hands heat up, and the ground beneath her start to warm. It started as a small flame in front of her, and then it grew in a thin line. It was like she lined a stripe of gasoline in front of her and lit it with a match. It chased towards Tony and transformed into a T, blocking Tony from her.

The small line of fire blew out, but the wall of flames still separated them.

"Good one! That's new."

"What can I say," She commented, yelling over the noise of the flames. "I taught myself." It wasn't like there were any other heretics to teach her.

"Conceited much?" He commented, while flying higher so she could just see the top half of his suit. He expelled a cold mist of water from his suit, the flames diminishing into small patches.

"This is where I'd say 'I take after you' but I'm like- quadruple your age."

She loved the snarky remarks, Tony being possibly the only one that thought the same way as she did. It was as if their brain was wired the same way, which is why they bashed heads so much. When he would visit her, he would have a glass of whiskey, and she would watch the nightlife, and he would just drone on about his life. She listened, considering she had nothing better two, and she was possibly the only person on earth that wasn't offended by Tony Stark's comments.

He planted himself on the ground, clawed feet emerging and digging into the cement. His arms turned into two shield defending himself as Tatum kicked and punched her way through the air. He was pretty well trained in self defense, and she truly did her best to attack him.

"This a little hard for you hey?" He asked, "I must be putting up a good fight."

She grabbed his right arm, halting him from hitting her exposed skin.

They paused for a moment, the iron man mask peering into her soul as she formed a maniacal smile.

She closed her grasp, squeezing the metal and deforming the arm piece.

"I said no ruining suits." The suit opened up and he stepped out of it, like it was an elevator. "I had one condition."

She grinned, releasing the metal arm.

He lifted a finger as she laughed. "You know, I actually think that's the first time I've seen you smile."

"Mhm," She nodded sarcastically.

"So, Tie?"

"If that's what makes you happy,"

"What?" he asked, his arms outstretched. He rubbed his goatee. "What do you mean 'if that makes me happy'. I think that was pretty even. Friday?" he turned towards his suit, speaking to the AI.

"Yes Mr. Stark?" She heard the robotic response.

"That was pretty even, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"See," He clapped his hands together, "Settled". He started walking towards the back doors of the compound.

"Whatever makes you happy," She repeated under her breath while following him back to the building.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." Swiftly, he span around and tried to karate chop her throat.

She grabbed his arm and chuckled, squeezing it tight until she could hear his knuckles start to crack.

"Okay! Okay." He pulled away from her, to which she allowed. "Ow," He shook his hand. "Point proven." They were quiet for a moment, Tony typing in the password to enter through the back entrance. She could see the reflection of the sunset flash back at them from the glass doors. "I almost got you there though, didn't I?"

* * *

The night had passed without sleep. To be frank, she was nervous. What would the world be like with only half it's members occupying it? She had never thought about her fate... but what if she was left behind? What if she was left to pick up the pieces of those around her? What if Tony was gone?

She spent the night gathering belongings from Tony for a spell. It started out with a few strands of hair, and then swab of his spit.

"_Why are you doing this?" _He had asked her, _"Planning to clone me after I'm gone?"_

_She huffed a laugh "Just listen to me. I'll explain later."_

She had then grabbed a lock of her own hair, her own swab of spit. She had grabbed frog's eyes, and a few bones of a bird she had found outside, and pricked her thumb before letting it drip into the concoction. She wrapped it in a burlap pouch, tying a knot with the strings.

When morning came, and the both of them exited the building, she handed him the small pouch.

"What's this?" He asked, holding it and shaking it like a present on Christmas morning.

"It's a binding spell, sorta. More like a hex... or a potion, without the whole drinking part." It'll work on you, I've tried it on mortals before.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" He cocked a brow, holding it palm up in his hand like it was a dead mouse.

She closed her eyes and hovered her hand palm down over it. "Ut curabit nos. Ut ubi ego sum et vado eorum ubi ipse morietur".

She opened her eyes to see him frowning, and he tossed the bag in the air. "What'd you do and what the hell is in this bag?"

"Just keep it in your suit, okay? It'll bind us so if you need me or something, you just say the spell and I'll come to you, or if I say it you return to me." She closed his palm, clutching his hand, and he held the pouch tighter. He exhaled through his nostrils and placed it in his pocket.

"Well how the hell am I supposed to remember the words?"

"I wrote a little sticky note," she added, tapping her left temple. "Always thinking ahead."

"Now let's go, little one." She teased, placing her hand on his back, and they exited the Avenger's building.

"Don't call me that."

* * *

She waited in the park. She was told to wait for his command. She hated waiting, she hated being ordered around. She hated being in such a public area. She hated a lot of things.

When they had made it into the main part of the city, Bruce Banner had approached him with the doctor and another fellow, and they had to go MIA for a bit. She was offered to join, but she saw no point in joining them inside the orange spinny thingy.

All was quiet for a long time. She watched joggers run with dogs, parents walk with children, teenagers playing frisbee. There was even a yoga group. She liked people watching, it was usually a task completed at the bar, but still; she enjoyed it.

Nearly an hour had passed, and there was no sign of Tony. Calling him felt weird at a time like this, and she doubted he would even answer.

She reveled in the tranquility, even closing her eyes for a moment.

It started with sirens. First there were few, then there were many. She didn't begin to think twice, until she felt the rumble of the earth. She stood from the bench, her head scanning her surroundings.

In all her years of living, she had never seen anything quote like what was before her eyes. There was a vertical donut shaped thing.. what she only assumed to be a space ship.

"What in Unholy hell is that.." she whispered to herself.

Movement started happening around her. Screaming, wailing, crying. She could see objects flying from the street the ship was on. She could see parts of building fly off, glass shatter, car's sailing through the air. Whatever battle was happening, it was too close for comfot.

She watched as a cement block came crashing down like a meteor, towards a car stuck in traffic. She could see two little boys in the backseat, and a father screaming in the front.

She would never understand mortal logic of being in shock and not moving, but she tried to diminish the thought as she ran towards the car. Just as it was about to collide, she pushed the car to the side, crashing it into the adjacent car next to it. She moved out of the way of the rock, pushed it aside when it landed, and then opened the back passenger seat to allow the family to get out. "Come on, come on," She waved them, helping the first little boy get out. "I think they're evacuating everything North of the bridge.

She helped the last two members out and then pointed to where they should run.

"Thank you," he called back, picking up both toddlers and sprinting it down the sidewalk.

She wiped the pieces of glass that had embedded themselves into her hands, and she sighed.

She heard twangs of metal, she heard people getting hurt, and she heard loud alien like sounds from the next block over.

"Watch out!"

She spun around to see a yellow taxi near collision with her body. With so many explosive sounds it was hard to detect the noise of the car. Just as she saw the taxi appear only a few feet before her face, she shielded her eyes; knowing that the impact wouldn't truly kill her, but if it did cause her to be out for a few hours, that meant that she couldn't help. She had promised Tony she would help, and she wan't good on breaking oaths.

She felt something attach to her waist, something sticky and springy, and before she knew it she was flying through the air.

"What the f-" She landed on the ground, somersaulting as she saw a blur of blue and red.

She was left on the ground, groaning as the back of her head hit a rock.

"Oh shoot!" She heard her savior mutter, "Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?" She felt fingers on the back of her head, and she swatted them away as she grunted. She saw Spider-Man, who she recognized in the news and from Tony's countless reminiscence about him.

"Dandy," She grumbled. He stood over her, legs outstretched while she laid on the ground. An awkward situation to be in, to say the least. She had just met him, but she thought nothing of it as he hovered over her, a little to close to comfort. His eyes were inches from her angry green ones, showing irritation at his lack of attempt to move.

"Wow you have nice eyes! Hah.." He said quickly, giving an awkward laugh.

"Yeah," She groaned, "Little too close for comfort, my friend."

"Do you know Mr. Stark?" he ignored her

"Unfortunately." She tried to push him off of her. She shielded her eyes as an explosion of glass happened to her left. "Now's not really the time to start a conversation Spider-boy."

"It's Spider-man." He corrected with annoyance.

"You're voice tells me otherwise."

"You're like... the same age as me." He argued.

"Plus 200 years." She pushed him away, using her elbow to press against his shoulder. "Where's Tony?"

"How do you know Tony?"

"Stop asking questions."

"Right, right. Sorry. In the middle of a fight. Yeah. I forgot." He scratched the back of his head. "We're on the same side, right?"

"Jesus..." She shook her head. How did Tony put up with him? He was like a toddler.

"Hey I just saved you from a near death experience! You don't have to be so rude."

She cocked her head, licking her lips as she spoke. "Wouldn't be the first time I've died Spider-boy."

"Spider-Man." He corrected through gritted teeth.

"Yeah yeah." She took a moment to analyze her surroundings. The somersault through the air threw her off, and she had already wasted time by talking to the kid.

"There" she pointed towards the larger child of Thanos, and watched as he windmilled his weapon around, spinning in circles as Tony flew in spirals around him. He shot bolts of lasers at him, but it did nothing to slow down the beast and his armor.

"Tony!" She yelled, cupping her mouth as she stood erect. "Watch your-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the monster had switched his position and clamored down on Tony and his suit, causing him to shoot towards the grass and leave a trail of mud.

She bounced up and down for a bit, preparing herself to enter the fight. She shook her head, exhaling like a runner before a triathlon. "Hey big guy!" She screamed, "Over here." At an unfathomable speed, Tatum blurred towards the alien, colliding with it's armored legs. She had managed to dent the metal with her strength, and it was enough to distract him for a moment, even cause him to stumble slightly, but then he just grew angry and tried to swat her away.

He grew even more irritated when the smile crept up on her face, dodging every grasp he tried to make as her agility was heightened more than that of a mortal. He growled at her, muttering something in his alien language. "Catch me if you can!" She badgered, moving around him in circles, between his legs and in front and behind him.

"Hey Mr Stark!" She heard Spider man speak, and watched him web over to him using a pair of trees that were a fair distance apart. It didn't appear that he had heard the boy, because he made no effort to reply.

The ground rumbled with his angry roar. He lifted his weapon in the air, almost anticipating Tatum's next flutter around his feet, and it came crashing down. She was sure it was going to hit her, and she'd rather not die halfway through battle if she had a choice, but she didn't have enough time to move. It would take her a few hours to come back to life, and they didn't really have that time right now.

She shielded herself from the impact, but it never came. She looked back at Tony, who was expressionless due to the Iron mask, and then she looked up.

Her previous savior was holding back the metal axe-like weapon, and glancing back at them in triumph.

"Mr. Stark"

"Hey, kid." He acknowledged his presence. "Where'd you come from?" He asked as he got back on his feet. Tatum did the same.

"Field trip from MoMa!" His voice faded as the alien threw him to the side.

"Ugh," She groaned; knowing that she should at least help the dude out, since he had helped her. Twice.

She fled over to him, watching him float towards the park's water fountain. She had made it before him, whizzing over before the boy had a chance to bash his skull on the cement. She stumbled at the impact, and held her arms underneath his armpits, pulling him upright as he regained himself. "Now we're even," She commented, running back to Tony.

"Thanks!" He waved at her like a citizen trying to wave down a cab in New York. "Mr. Stark, she's like... really really fast." he commented, webbing back over to them.

"Yeah," Tatum could hear their conversation through the earpieces, not needing an earpiece of her own with her advanced hearing. "I'll explain later, Pete. Just help us out."

"Right, right."

While Tony powered bolts of harmful light towards the alien, Tatum took her time focusing; closing her eyes as she tried her best to avoid the outside noise.

"What?!" She heard the 16 year old yell, "What is she doing? Why is she just standing there?"

"Just focus on us Peter!" Iron man shouted back. "Just give her a sec."

She could feel power pulse through her, and when her hands grew shaky, she knew she had summoned the Elektrokenisis power that she had desired to battle the alien with.

"Tony, I need something with power."

He flew around in circles, just as he had before while the Spider-man did his best to web up the monster's legs. "What do you mean? You're going to have to be a little bit more specific."

"I need a phone, a tablet, a power line, I need something!" She dodged a shot from the alien.

Before anyone had a chance to speak, a long cable appeared in her hand. It was a black telephone wire that had fallen due to the fight, and she clutched it the stickiness of it, she knew who had given it to her.

She could feel the electricity run through her, and she shot a few bolts of lightning towards him. it only stunned him for a few seconds, but it managed to allow a few hits.

"What's this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?"

"Uh," Tony pointed both palms towards the foe. "He's from space, he came to steal a necklace from a wizard."

"Yeah?" Spider-man grunted as the alien grabbed him with a metal claw, tossing him behind it like it was a piece of trash.

Tony took that as an opportunity, raising higher in the air as he used his orange laser to try to cut through the guys armor. The claw transformed into a shield, and Tony only managed to get a few shots towards his face. The alien roared, grabbing the taxi from earlier and tossing it away in anger.

Tatum watched as the kid attached himself to a tree, and webbed himself to the car, yanking it towards the enemy.

He growled in pain, but tossed it off.

"Does he ever stop?"

"Superhero life, Tatum," Tony commented, "Little bit of a bigger deal then witch hunters."

"I told you I am not trying to be a superhero," She yelled. She darted towards his legs again, using each arm to grab a leg and clothesline him. He fell to the ground, but grabbed her with the claw and threw her towards a tree. She hit the tree, the back of her skull cracking as she made impact. She groaned, rubbing the crown as she held her hand over the bleeding wound. She could already feel itself healing up.

This dude put up a better fight than even the Winchesters.

She felt a gush of wind fly past her, and she looked in time to see a man flying horizontally through the air.

"Kid," Tony yelled through the earpiece, "That's the wizard, get on it."

"On it Mr. Stark!"

Tatum watched as he webbed away. She glanced from him, to the flying wizard, to Tony, to the Alien, to the chaos down the street with the squidward looking alien and she exhaled. Catastrophic events exploded around her as the english-speaking alien flew after Spider-man and the unconscious wizard. They made a path of destruction as they all played tag, chasing each other towards the large starship.

She looked at Tony, and despite not being able to see his face, she was sure he was fashioning the same incredulous stare.

Never in her 216 years on earth had she encountered anything like this.

* * *

**Authors note:**

**I know this kind of dived straight into action, but there's reason behind it and you'll just have to trust me enough to stick through till the next chapter. Peter and Tatum will properly meet on the space ship. I'm messing with the time line a little bit, if you couldn't tell. I want there to be a few days on the space ship while they are waiting to get to Titan, and I'm also going to have her meet the other avengers in upcoming chapter. I know it seems impossible, but there's a way without her leaving the ship that she will, and again you'll have to trust me.**

**Also can someone tell me if there's a way to view everyone who has followed and favorited this story? I wan't to thank people individually. It is nice to know that people read my work.**


	3. Chapter 3

_We can shake the fire,_

_we can stop the pain,_

_trying to find comfort in the rain._

* * *

"Who are you?" She faced the scruffy looking man, waving an awkward hand while she held the back of her bleeding skull. The man had approached her, giving her a hand up while Tony ran off to find the kid. One of the Doctor's men had opened up some sort of orange, lit, portal by spinning his arms, and the previous large alien trying to murder the three of them had fallen into the trap, transporting him elsewhere and leaving behind a smoking, charred, hand that was cut off from the attempted escape.

"Relative of Tony's, Tatum." She greeted him, "Nice to meet ya." His hair was dark, and his face was dotted with dark hair, almost a beard but not quite. Half of his shirt was torn to shreds, and he lowered a brow at her. "Yourself?"

"Bruce..." He made a face, "I thought Tony didn't have any relatives."

"Yeah he doesn't mention me much." She shrugged. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

"Hey..." He mumbled, "Whats with your hand?"

Her brows knit together in confusion, and she looked at her hand. She saw a white light fade up her body, her hands disappearing, then her arms. "Oh shit, gotta go. Nice to meet you!" She tried to wave, but there was nothing left of her besides her face.

Everything went white for a moment, and she felt a burning sensation inaugurate through her body. She felt like she was going through a large, blindingly white tunnel, and next thing she knew she was stuck to Tony's right side inside the aircraft, trying to split apart from him.

"Aargrh!" He howled in pain and effort to split their bodies up. The white light connected their bodies, like a pair of Siamese twins, but they eventually built up the strength to split themselves apart. She landed on the floor with a light 'thump'.

"You didn't say it would hurt," he grumbled, touching the side of his body where they had previously been attached. He held out a hand to her, and she grabbed it. He pulled her up, and she dusted herself off.

"You wouldn't have taken it then, would you have now?"

He sighed, shuffling away from her.

They were on a metal platform, a large drop before them. The whole place was buzzing with power, making her twitch from the heightened hearing. They were encompassed in sheets of metal, orange and red lights flickering every so often. Tony peered over the drop, leaning on a pillar of steel.

"So what are we looking at, boss?" She approached him, keeping close to his side as they both looked below.

She saw the wizard, who she assumed to be Dr. Strange, hovering horizontally as he had before. He was chest down, and his arms were glued to his sides. He was unmoving, only his eyes and his breathing showing any signs of life. What appeared to be thin, glass like shards poked his body, while the squidward looking alien spoke to him, hands behind his back.

"What is he saying?" He asked, too far to hear the conversation below.

_"If I were to reach the rendezvous on Titan, with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be judgement." _He held his hands behind his back, glaring at the doctor while the shards grew dauntingly closer to his being.

Dr. Strange hissed as he felt the first of many shards pierce his skin. His skin turned white, the veins underneath being lit up from the power of the shards.

_"Give me the stone."_

She spoke to Tony in a low whisper, their eyes still peeled down below. "Thanos is going to judge him if he doesn't bring the stone, yadayadayada, give me the stone."

"Hmm. So what's the plan?"

Tatum felt a presence. She heard another heartbeat on the ship, and she knew there was someone else their with them. Before she had time to warn Tony, he was tapped on the shoulder. He whipped around, hand faced towards the assumed foe, and she heard the start of his laser charge up.

When he saw who it was, he breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his hand.

They saw a burgundy cape, holding a bunch of fabric up as if to halt his attack. It floated, almost as if there was an invisible person inside of it. She assumed it to be the doctor's. She was baffled at it's form, not having seen anything like it before. It was almost as if there was an invisible person inside of it. The collars were popped and the train of it swayed.

"Wow, you are seriously a loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?"

"Can I have one of those?" Tatum asked.

"Shut up."

There was a cough to the rear of them."Yeah... uh... speaking of loyalty." A new voice appeared, and they all turned towards it. She saw the Spider-Man from early hanging upside from a web, and he did a small flip as he landed. He was wearing a different suit then before, one that resembled his previous one only it was covered in an Iron-Man like outside.

His spider-helmet disappeared, going back inside his suit. There left standing, was a looked a little bit older than his voice sounded, but he was still young. His jaw was clenched, the angles of it chiseled to a nice cut. He expressed guilt as he stared at Tony Stark. His eyes were a doe brown and his face structure was easy on the eyes.

"Hey, you didn't say the Spider-boy was a cutie." She teased Tony, knowing it would only aggravate him even more.

"You," He stabbed a finger in her chest, "You stop it... I don't want to hear another peep out of you."

"Hey thanks!" The boy replied at her remark.

Tony grew vexed, clearly displeased by the stow away and the comments being made about him.

"I know what you're going to say," He started, arms raised in the air. "I was gonna go home,"

"I don't want to hear it."

"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way-"

"And now I gotta hear it."

"And I was kinda stuck to the side of the ship, and also this suit is ridiculous intuitive by the way!" He pointed out.

"God dammit," He muttered under his breath.

"So if anything, it's kind of your fault that I'm here," He shrugged, his arms outstretched.

Tony frowned. "What did you say?"

"I-I take that back." He stuttered. "And now I'm here in space."

"Yeah," Tony approached the kid, "Right where I didn't want you to be."

She moved around Tony, pressing her arm against his Iron chest to impede him. "Hey hey... what's done is done."

"Who is she?" the teen asked, pointing to Tatum.

"Tatum Stark, his great great Aunt; or something like that/" She replied, "Yourself?"

"I'm Peter," he waved, giving an awkward smile. He flashed his pearly whites, and she tried to hide the smile that was creeping up on her face while she analyzed the baby-faced teen. HE held his hand out to her to shake, and when she went to grab it, Tony swatted her away.

"Great great great Aunt." Tony corrected. "How many times do I have to-"

"Right, whatever." She cut him off, wiping her palm on her black jeans.

Peter scratched his head, his brown, slightly sweaty locks, bouncing around. "How in the-"

"Doesn't matter, kid." He pushed past Tatum, "The point is; this isn't Coney Island, this isn't a field trip... This is a one way ticket," He hissed through gritted teeth. "You hear me?" He stressed, "Don't pretend you thought this through,"

"I did think this through-"

"You could not have possibly-"

"I did think this through!" He raised his voice slightly. "You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood," Peter said mournfully, fashioning a poignant expression.

Tony stared at him, his stance strong as he blinked in disbelief at Peter's reasoning.

"Okay," He shook his head, "That didn't really make sense- but you know what I'm trying to say."

Tony looked past him, breathing shakily before sighing and walking off; accepting the matter. "Come on, we've got a situation."

They all followed, even The Cape, and haphazardly approached the edge. Peter knelt to the floor, while Tony pointed at the alien.

"See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan?" Tony questioned sternly.

"Tony-" She tried to detest, hoping he would ease up on Peter in the high-stress moment.

Without looking, Tony held up a finger to silence her.

"Umm... okay." She was surprised to see that Peter was actually pondering over ideas. "Uh... Ok. Got it." He stood, startling The Cape as he faced Tony and Tatum. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?"

"It's not that old," she countered with a scowl.

Peter gave her an incredulous look. "It's pretty old."

"I take offense to that, just so you know."

His eyebrows knit together and he made a face, almost in disgust. "How old are you?"

"Almost 217."

"Okay, stop it." Tony clapped his hands together. "What's your point, Pete?"

He pointed to Tony's suit. "You go down there, stall for a little bit, and shoot your blasty thingy, at the side of the ship, and then the negative pressure will suck him out to space and either his mind will explode" he gesticulated an explosion by his head, "Or he'll just freeze to death."

Tony rubbed his chin. "That's actually not bad."

"What if the wizard goes with him." She asked.

"The cape can catch him, right?" Peter asked, facing the article of clothing.

The cape moved up and down, bending over as if to nod.

"Awesome, work kid." Tony clapped his hands together. "Tatum, you come with me and protect the Doc in case he tries to pull anything."

Before she had time to detest, he picked her up by her arm pits, and they hovered quietly below to the front of the ship. She was in awe of the stars floating by, the planets she could see in the distance, and the little dot that was earth in the far background. She would've appreciated more time to gaze out the glass wall, but they had none of it to waste.

Tony charged up his lasers again, the noise ringing in their ears as they both shifted into a battle stance.

The alien turned towards them, folding his hands together in front of him. "... I could end your friends life in an instant."

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend." He retorted, "Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy."

She held her arm out, palm faced towards Dr. Strange and the alien. There was unnerving silence for a moment, and she glanced up at Peter and Dr. Strange's Cape. They waited for her or Tony to make a movie.

"Any day now, auntie." Tony's voice was tainted with irritation.

"Yeah, got it." She barked at him. She closed her eyelids and started chanting. "Activae, sicut animus est, haec dona mshe potestate creare motus."

The pin prick instruments started to glide away from the doctor, the one embedded in his face causing him to hiss as it removed. Her fist closed, and as she did the weapons started to move millimeter by millimeter away from his body.

She heard the alien snarl at her as she overpowered the needle-like weapons.

"Activae, sicut animus est, haec dona mshe potestate creare motus." she repeated, gaining the strength to move them further from the wizard.

She wasn't able to dislodge whatever power was keeping him captive in the air, but she had enough strength to at least avoid his demise.

"You saved nothing," The alien spoke, lifting his hands in the air. Parts of metal removed them self from the foreground and leisurely made their way to them. "Your powers are inconsequential to mine." He spoke to the both of them, glowering at each one.

"Yeah, but the kids seen more movies." Tony rejoiced.

A missile appeared on Tony's shoulder, firing towards the side of the ship with a loud boom as it tore through the metal. She felt the vaccum like suction of the explosion, and she clung to a table for life.

The doctor yelped, glass shattering as he swept away.

The cape flew towards him, one side of the fabric holding on to a pillar while the other grabbed his wrists.

She watched as the alien flew through the hole, watching him spiral away like the last of the bathwater swirling down a drain.

Her grip slipped as the metal started to warp, not strong enough to hold her weight and the negative pressure of the back-hole like puncture at the side of the ship. "Tony!" She howled over the wind. "You better get your ass over here." Hmm. Maybe she did want a suit after all.

"Yeah give me a sec!" He dodged pieces and parts that swept past him, gyrating towards the metal perforation.

She grunted as a few fingers slipped. She felt weak in that moment, that maybe she would be sucked into oblivion and she'd never know the outcome of how Tony's plan to destroy Thanos would play out.

She cursed under her breath as a large beam fell, near crushing her fingers and causing her reflexes to release the slab of metal.

She felt like a magnet, plummeting towards the outer space while she somersaulting around. She could feel the pull of the hole, yearning for her like a predator and it's prey.

Only feet before her demise, Peter had attached a web to each one of her hands. Her body snapped back as she went still. She saw him use a metal beam for leverage, and he towed her up to him. When his footing slipped, and they both fell a few feet, he shrieked. he managed to grab another hold of an iron ledge, and they stopped again. Large claw-like limbs exposed themselves from Peter's suit, and 8 spindly little scraps of metal held him back for leverage. His feet were dangling and his hands were outstretched towards her. "Now Mr. Stark!" He yelled over the howling of the wind, yanking her closer and closer.

She breathed heavily in exasperation. Her lungs overworked, and she couldn't help but feel a little nervous that she had almost just dissipated into space. She just kept looking behind her, trying to see what Tony was doing. Her head bopped with every pull of the web, and once she finally heard silence, she started dropping to the floor.

Peter released his webs and shot down a make-shift web hammock beneath her; attaching it to other beams of alloy. She landed on it, sticking to the substance.

"One more point for Spidey!" He held up a finger, jumping down to the main level where all four of them were. "Not so even anymore, are we?"

She grumbled, rolling off the hammock and onto the ground.

She peeked over at where the opening was previously, and saw hard foam like substance covering the perforation, knowingly one of Tony's creation expelled via his suit.

"Hey we haven't officially met," She thought Peter was talking to her, but when she saw that he his hand outstretched towards the animated article of clothing, she rolled her eyes. The Cape ignored him, floating over to the Doctor and wrapping itself around him. "Cool." Peter murmured.

Tony's suit dissipated around him as he walked towards the front of the ship, stepping up onto the ledge just before the large glass panel that showed the ink-like darkness of outer space.

"We need to turn this ship around," Dr. Strange ordered, following Tony. She had got her first good look of the man. He had black hair, a tall demeanor and he strode with comfort and conviction; something she admired.

Tatum trotted over to them, Peter following but they kept their distance from them.

"Oh, now he wants to run," Tony sighed, "Great."

"I want to protect the time stone." The wizard's voice was confident, clear and vocal.

He pivoted and walked closer the glass. "And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead," He urged. "I'm listening."

"For what?" He paced behind Tony, "Nearly blasting me into space?"

Tatum leaned over to Peter, who's face mask was now off. "That's the thingy around his neck, right? What does it do? Time travel and stuff?"

"I don't know," He answered, without facing her. "I'm kinda lost."

She looked at the intricate necklace surrounding Dr. Strange's neck. There was a glowing green crystal inside the knotted swirls of the gold jewelry. It was warded with something, she could sense that from the low hum it made, undetectable to mortal ears. Some sort of spell, one she's ask the Doctor about later.

They turned back to the conversation, Tony pacing while stars flew by in the foreground. His was more strident as he argued with the wizard. "Admit it, you should've ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you, you refused."

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you."

"Neither do I," She held up a finger, to which everyone ignored but Peter, who shot her a glance (to which SHE ignored).

"And due to **that** fact" Tony emphasized, "We are now on a flying donut, billions of miles from earth with no backup".

Peter perked up, lifting a hand. "I'm back up,"

"No." He barked, "You're a stowaway." He pointed at Peter, "The adults are talking."

The doctor shook his head in confusion. "I'm sorry I'm confused as to the relationship here." He gestured to Tatum and peter. "What are they; your wards?"

"No," Peter responded at the same time that Tatum answered "Definitely not."

"I'm Peter, by the way." he held out a hand to him, to which the doctor only nodded in salutation.

"Dr. Strange," he greeted.

"Oh, we're using our made up names... Um, I'm Spider-Man then."

If it weren't for the severity of the situation, she would have chuckled right then.

The doctor turned to face her, waiting for an introduction.

"Oh," She licked her lips, "Me? I'm no one, just an old heretic doing a family member a _favor._" She hissed the last word, glowering at Tony.

"I thought your kind went extinct."

She was startled by his knowledge, even raising her eyebrows while she folded her arms. "So you know what I am? Good, then I don't have to explain it."

"Uh, I don't," Peter stepped forward. "I-I don't know."

No one responded to his claim, they all just continued with their previous conversing.

"This ship's self-correcting it's course; this things on auto-pilot." Tony deducted.

The doctor treaded closer to him, joining him on the platform before the window. "Can we control it?" Tony paced in front of the window "...Fly us home?" He added. Tony licked his lips, curling them inwards as each foot leisurely stepped before the other. "Stark-"

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Can you get us home?" He stressed the words, brows lowering as he spoke to Tony.

"Yeah I heard you." He responded, halting his pace as he turned towards him. He folded his hands, holding them down while he avoided any eye contact from the Doctor. "I'm thinking I'm not so sure we should." He proposed in a hushed tone.

She heard the heart inside the Doctor's chest beat louder, faster then before. It thumped vociferously inside his body; and she knew it was from anger. "Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake, here."

"What? No." He strode over to him, their faces only a few inches apart. "No it's you who doesn't understand. Thanos has been inside my head for **six **years." He emphasized, "Since he sent an army to New York and now he's back!" She remembered her visit with Tony after the mess with Ultron, it was a hard time for him and Pepper and his emotions. "And I don't know what to do." His hands pressed together, "So I'm not so sure if it's better to fight him on our turf or his, but you saw what they did, what they can do." He continued. "At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say, we take the fight to him." There was a pause, "Doctor." Another break. "Do you concur?"

"Alright Stark." He puzzled over the idea. "We go to him. But you have to understand, if it comes to you, or the kid, or the hybrid, or the Time Stone, I will not hesitate to let any of you die. I can't, because the universe depends on it."

"Nice," tony patted his arm, stepping away from him. "Good, moral compass. We're straight now."

"How long is it going to get there?" Tatum asked as Tony approached the two of them.

"I don't know, a few days? I'm not so sure how this thing works, but I can try figuring it out. How long can you go without eating?"

"A week at most. Comfortably, that is."

Tony massaged his forehead, "Alright well, that's a challenge for another time. Anyways, kid-" He turned to Peter, placing one arm on his left shoulder, then moving it to his right as if he was knighting him. "You're an avenger now."

She could see how Peter's face changed right then and there. She could tell by the smile he tried to hide, and the way he looked off in the distance. His mind was gyrating with thoughts, and Tatum felt a tiny bit of pride for him and his obvious win. He looked like a Make-A-Wish kid who had just been told they were cured.

When Tony advanced towards her, she backed away. "Uh-uh. I told you, no super hero stuff."

"Oh come on, don't be a baby."

"No," She backed up. "For the last time Tony, I am not, nor do I ever want to be an Avenger."

He smiled at her maniacally, "Too late."

* * *

**A/N: I really... and I mean REALLY rushed out this chapter. I know it was a lot to envelop but I promise it will get better! A lot of this is just dialogue from the moving, but upcoming chapter will involve interaction with everybody. If you didn't read my last note, i am extending the time from the space ship to the landing on Titan, and when they meet the guardians. **

**I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think in the reviews. If you have any ideas for upcoming chapter, or polite criticism, feel free to include it as well. I get so so happy to wake up the follows and favorites everyday. Keep it coming!**

**gossamermouse101: Haha, I loved it. I'm going to incorporate a lot of teasing between the two of them; much different from Tony and Peter's relationship.**

**Thank you.**

**xx**


	4. Chapter 4

_I'll sit and watch your car burn_  
_With the fire that you started in me_  
_But you never came back to ask it out_

* * *

_At first, it felt strange. it felt wrong. There was a metallic taste, like the smell of copper and pennies. But then... It was euphoria. It was like the first cold sip of water after a long run, the first bite of breakfast in the morning. The taste was exhilarating. It was like fuel in a gas-less car. It was the rising sun after a long night. It made her feel high, like she had just smoked a whole joint to herself._

_It disgusted her, the thought of consuming someones blood; but when she did, she only thought one thing. She knew she wanted to do it again._

_With tears streaming from her face, the cold wind staining her cheeks, she ran from her home. Somehow, she knew it was over. She knew that she couldn't reconcile any relationship with her coven._

_She had no idea what was going on, what she was, until she heard the word 'heretic' spat out of a hunter's mouth._

_It clicked in her head then. She remembered the word. She remembered the exact moment her history professor wrote the word on the board, underlining it twice for preeminence._

_"Vampires with witch power. A true abomination of Satan himself. Imagine the power of a head of coven, combined with constant bloodlust"_

_Arrows flew by her face, and she dodged them reflexively._

_She didn't question her new reflexes. She knew why. She knew her fortune._

_She had died._

_No, she had been murdered. _

She gasped, shooting forward in her sleeping position and hitting a metal pole against her forehead. "Fuck," She cursed, rubbing her forehead. She could feel the blood flow to the area, she knew if she were human, it would bruise instantly.

"What was that?" Peter jumped into action, peering around the corner of steel. His feet were spread apart, and his stance was protective.

"My head," She groaned, rubbing it.

"Jeez, I thought it was a gunshot or something important." He frowned.

She held her breath as she spoke, massaging the tender area. "Nope, just my noggin, the thing that I think with and use daily. Not important or anything."

He rolled his eyes, disregarding her comment and sitting down beside her.

"Why were you sleeping on the floor anyways?" He asked, folding his arms on top of his legs.

She looked at him, still clad in his suit but somehow looking less disheveled then earlier. "Why are you still in your suit? She countered.

He made a face, "I literally have nothing else to wear. I have nothing under this beside's boxers." He explained. "Now you answer my question."

"Well it's pretty obvious," She replied. "There's nowhere else in this unholy hell hole we're stuck in." She gesticulated the large open area.

"You have a point," He licked his lips, nodding. "How's the noggin'?" He looked to her forehead, eyes squinting to observe for any signs of obvious damage.

"I mean, it's the third time I've been hit in the head in the last 10 hours and I haven't died yet. That's a plus."

"How many times _have_ you died?" He clenched his jaw, eyes lowering back to her.

She let her eyes fix on his. They were warm, kind. She stared at them for a while. It made her feel happy to look in them. They made her feel like for one second, she was human.

"Do you have a concussion," He snapped his fingers in her face, attempting to obtain her attention.

"What? No." She fell out of her stupor, shaking her head. "I'm fine. I don't know, some where in the high 50's"

"Holy shit, really?" Hearing him curse felt like hearing a young toddler swear. It sounded wrong. He was too pure.

She nodded, lips curling inward as she swallowed.

"And what- you just come back to life? How?"

She scratched the back of her neck, relaxing against the wall, although pieces of metal jammed into her back. She pulled her feet close, and hugged her knees. "I'm usually out for a few hours, but then I just wake up. Perks of being dead, I suppose."

"You're dead?"

She nodded.

"So do you eat? Do you breath?"

"Sort of, and yes."

"Sort of?" He raised a curious brow.

She sighed, for some reason feeling like more of a monster then she ever had when explaining her past to him. She had no problem most of the time, but with him it made her feel uncomfortable. She felt as if she was confessing a sin. "Look, cant you go annoy Tony or something? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Busy doing what?" he blinked dramatically, taking a seat beside her.

She shuffled away, keeping her distance between her and the boy. God, didnt he have anything better to do?

"Are you always this annoying?" she barked.

"Are you always this grouchy?" he returned.

He had a point.

"Well, I mean... Do you know what a heretic is?"

"Beats me." He shook his head.

"Okay... so." She prepared herself for her spiel. "I was born in 1802 into a coven of witches and warlocks. We were one of thousands of covens all over the globe. We were smaller, sure, but we were just as strong. On your 16th birthday, as a sort of... novice witch or warlock, you engage in a dark baptism."

His eyes filled with fascination, and he leaned close to her. So close she could smell his warm breath on her face. "And what's that?"

She stared fixedly into his eyes as she spoke. "You drink from a chalice, you dive into a bathtub concoction of various herbs and roots, you recite some Satanic stuff and then you sign your name in the Book of The Beast, which is an ancient grimoire inscribed with the names of millions of witches and warlocks around the globe. Once you have signed your name, you devote your life to your coven and Satan himself."

"I'm not sure if this a joke or not." His lips parted, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Hey, believe what you want kid." She shrugged. "If you want me to stop-"

"No, this is interesting," He urged her to continue, "Besides what else do we have to do for the next few days?"

"Yeah whatever. Don't expect me to warm up to you or anything, I'm not really the friendly type, if you hadn't figuredbthat out yet."

He was silent, scared to retaliate so he said nothing

"So I finished my baptism and some stuff happened, and then I woke up as a vampire with wich powers. I'm sort of a rarity, actually. Not many left of my kind, that i know of."

His eyes widened. "How?"

She waited for him to question the existence of vampires, but he didn't. He just nodded along, besotted with her story.

"So can you do cool spells and stuff? Can you levitate things? Do you have a wand?"

"What? No! Do I look like Harry Potter?"

She could see Tony around the corner, tearing something apart. She also saw the doctor pacing, gazing out the front deck. She could feel Peter's eyes on her, but she made no movement.

"Wow."

"Yeah, now are you going to bug Tony? Because my attention span is slowly ebbing away here."

Sure, she hadn't expected him to run away and scream; because he wasn't exactly normal either, but she also hadn't expected so nonchalant.

"So you drink blood?"

She turned back to face him. She nodded, her blonde hair falling around her face. She tried to hide the guilt that tainted her face, but she knew that it was obvious to Peter. "Unfortunately."

"Hmm," He glanced down at his own feet. He was sitting cross-legged, and he played with the material on his toes. "What's it like living-"

"Okay." She muttered, "We're done here. Time to buzz of Parker. Go crawl up the walls or something spidery"

"Just a few more." he begged, his doe eyes pleading at her"

"Fine. You have five questions then do you promise to leave me be?"

He held up his pinky finger at her, a friendly smile creeping up in her lips. she glared at his hand. to which he understood.

"Jeez... okay." He huffee, "Can you actually be killed?"

"Only if you stab me with a stake."

"Garlic?"

"Fake."

"Coffin?"

"Nope."

"If you were born a witch, you can cast spells and stuff?"

"Yep,"

"That's why you were speaking that language earlier, right?"

"Bingo. Times up spider-boy"

Despite her remark, he still continues. He scratched his face as he speculated more. "Does your heartbeat?"

She shook her head. "It hasn't since that day." She didn't like talking about her death. It wasn't a happy memory.

She was startled when he swiftly leaned over and pressed his head against her chest. She could feel his warm flesh against her bare skin. She hadn't felt human touch in a while. Her skin was cold, it was dead after all. It resembled ice. His skin was like a hot pot against her's. She shut her eyes, clenching her jaw as she reveled in the moment. It wasn't because it was was Peter. It was because of the intimacy of the moment. If anyone had pressed their face against her chest, she would feel the same comfort.

She was a very introverted person. She didn't allow others into her home, besides Tony. It was rare she would interact. Her hobbies included frequent trips to the hospital to steal blood bags, drinking at bars with her fake ID that definitely didn't work on half the bartenders. She jogged for fun. Occasionally, she'd see a musical or people-watch in Times Square.

She was never with other mortals.

She had never felt more then a handshake or a high five from a mortal. Not since her last partner, which was in 1999. She wouldn't exactly call them a partner, either. More of a booty call.

This felt welcoming.

He lifted his head up, and she found herself feeling a little empty when he did so.

"Weird."

"I guess so, yeah." She nodded. "Now are you done?" She was back to her snarky self, but she couldnt help think about the previous interaction.

"Fine, yeah" He stood erect, "I should help Mr. Stark." He scratched the back of his neck. "Do you want my helmet, or anything? It's cushioned. I think there's a little pillow in there, or something. It's ridiculously advanced."

She smiled at him, a rarity for her. She fisted her left eye, still filled with sleep from her nap. "No, I'm okay."

He nodded, gulping. There was a moment of awkwardness as he folded his arms and rocked back on his heels. "Well.. Okay." He cleared his throat. His foot lifted to walk in the other direction, but then he turned to face her. "Hey Tatum. You're pretty cool, you know that?" He held out his fist to her, and at first she didn't know what to do. She stared at his hand like it was a foreign object from space (which wouldn't be all that barbiturate given the circumstances). "It's a fist-bump." He tried to stifle a laugh.

"Oh," God, she was old. She lifted her fist, and gently bumped it against his.

He mad a 'poooow!' noise, and did a fake explosion with his hands. He gave her an awkward smile before walking off.

She had never met anyone quiet like Peter Parker.

* * *

**A/N: This was a short chapter, I realize that. I just wan't people to know that it's gonna be a slow burn between the two of them, but the little connection between them will be obvious to both, even Tony. What would you all like to see in upcoming chapters? Would you like me to dive more into her life when she was turned? OR stick strictly to the avengers story line and Peter?**

**Thank you for the continuous support.**

**xx**


	5. Chapter 5

_Walking out into the dark_  
_Cutting out a different path_  
_Led by a beating heart_  
_All the people of the town_  
_Cast their eyes right to the ground_

_In matters of the heart_

* * *

_The night of her homicide occurred on the 23rd of October._

_She remembered being in the gathering hall for young witches and warlocks. She remembered sitting with others her age, all late 15 year olds. She recalled sitting with her friends; James, Aria, Cynthia. They sat at the front row, each of them holding a chalice._

_It was late, but most of the village were still up. She heard the bustle of people outside, she heard goats and chickens. She heard voices from other citizens._

_The three of her friends, including herself, listened keenly to Father Vukavitch as he lectured them on the platform. Vulkavitch was her Father's right hand man. She would almost call them best friends, but sometimes she could swear she saw the obvious envy on his face of working underneath him. Vulkavitch was in charge of all the young witches and warlocks, prior to their dark bapitism. Dark baptism's occurred on their 16th birthday There was preparation, their were spells and hexes to remember, there were 'wrongs and rights' to follow._

_His voice echoed in the gathering hall, booming and reverberating of the wooden walls._

_"You must wear the baptism outfit handed down from your relatives. You must recite the seven tenets. You must submerge yourself in a bath tub full of milk, eggs, rosemary and other herbs to clean the body of its' toxins. You must then sign, in blood, your full name in the Book of the Beast. As leader of the dark baptism's of our coven, I shall spend 10 minutes with each and every one of you, alone. Tonight marks the first of this month's baptisms." he regarded Tatum, and she gave an awkward smirk, as he knew that it was she who he was referring to. "I shall baptize you in an unholy matter. Worry not, as I will guide you in the direction to darkness."_

_Her father ensured the safety of the inscription, dedicating her life to her Coven and the Dark Lord. If signing it meant she could continue using her powers, it was a little price to pay. The downside? She was tied to her coven for the rest of her life, regardless of her future. It wasn't something she though of twice, until her untimely death the night of her dark baptism._

_Father Vukavitch paced back and forth as he spoke, hands tied to his back. "I shall remind you the purpose of this ritual. The Book of the Beast is our Dark Lord's ancient tome. The most unholy grimoire dedicated to Lucifer the Falling Star." His steps were long, strident. He spoke with credence. She analyzed his dark clothes, his blonde hair tied back into a messy bun. His startlingly blue eyes, his pursed lips._

_He retrieved each chalice from the mass. He leaned them all on a wooden table at the front of the hall. With a 'pop' he removed the cork off an aged bottle of dark wine. It was almost as deep of a red as the color of blood. He wafted the smell with his pale hands, nostrils flared. "The first part of your solemn ceremonies begins tonight." Each of them had a different color chalice, her's was red. Her vessel was at the end of the table, the last to be filled. The act of consuming the red wine was a taken for transformation. Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives. Wine is a mirror held up to nature._

_He emptied the small amount of the liquid into each chalice. When he got to James' cup, he poured the last few drops of the drink into his cup. He placed the empty bottle under the table, and grabbed another bottle from his coat pocket._

_He popped the cork with his thumb, and poured the drink into her cup._

_"You may all retrieve your goblets. Remember to drink quickly, remember to finish it all." He clapped his hands together._

_They all made their way to the front of the Church, reclaiming their possessions._

_"Enjoy," Vukavitch met her eyes, gazing into them. "And congratulations on the start of your Dark Baptism. " His pale lips quirked into a smile, and he walked away. "Enjoy, my children, and welcome to your future." His arms extended out. Tatum couldn't help but notice his eyes glued to her. The gaze made her uncomfortable. She didn't want to stare back, but every time her eyes darted his way, she noted him staring still. When the drink met her lips, she grimaced. Her expression matched the same as the other witches and warlocks. The bitter liquid ran down their throats, forcing the consumption to make Dather Vulkavitch proud._

_It was daunting to be alone in the forest, to hear only the sounds of crickets and frogs in the nearby river. Her toes curled into the earth, wet dirt sticking to her feet. She sauntered leisurely through the first, feeling almost magical under the light of the moon. The top portion of her hair was neatly braided behind her, while the rest of her lengthy hair hung down in loose waves. She followed the markers on the path towards her destination, and she took her time to touch every tree and to study the creatures of the night._

_When she had made it to the opening of the foliage, she saw Father Vulkavitch facing away from her, hands folded as he watched the river flow._

_"Tatum Stark,"_

_"Hello Father." She greeted, tiptoeing towards the aperture._

_He pivoted to face her. He graced her with a tight, closed-lipped smile. "You know, I have always regarded you as someone close to me, due to your father and I's relationship."_

_"Thank you father."_

_He strode towards her. He lifted his hand, brushing the messy waves out of her face. "I am happy to see this day finally come for you. Your father will be proud of you. Your brother will see how exceptional of an example you are setting for him. You will make a great witch to our coven."_

_"Thank you father," She repeated._

_"You are very welcome." He reversed a step, pivoting. He gestured towards the milky bathtub, decorated with stems of rosemary and various roots, as well as mint. "You may start the process when you feel ready"._

_She sighed through her nostrils, buzzing over the whole ceremony. Each and every member of her coven had participated in the ritual. Al of them had submerged their bodies into the bath. They had recited the tenets, and signed their name in the book. The next morning, they woke up as new beings. They were stronger, they were more powerful._

_She sat on the side of the bathtub. The lace of her black dress, worn by her mother many moons ago, touched the bath water. She placed her left foot first, then her right. Ripples flowed from her movement. She was surprised at how warm the fluid was._

_She submerged her knees next. Shivers ran up her spine as lowered her back into the bath tub._

_Father Vulkavitch approached her, placing his hand on top of her head._

_"Are you ready, my dear?"_

_A shaky breath escaped her lips. She wasn't sure why she was nervous. She wanted to do this. She knew she had to do this. A tear welled in her eyes. She was stunned from the involuntary action. The tear overflowed, dripping down her face until it reached her mandible. It clung for a moment, before falling into the tub and rippling the bath water._

_The emotion did not go unnoticed by Father Vulkavitch. "It's okay, Tatum. Reactions like this are standard."_

_She nodded, swallowing a gathering of saliva that was stuck in her throat. "Okay." She whispered. She laid back, her neck resting on the curve of the porcelain. "Okay," she repeated, "I am ready."_

_"Ten seconds." He instructed. "Ten seconds then you must lift your head."_

_She grip tightened on her head, five fingers spread upon her small crown."**Deinde sequens ut sisterent tibi de tua, domine mi tenebris.**" His pressure increased, and he pushed her underneath._

_She shut her eyes and held her breath as her body was submerged._

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

_Four._

_Five._

_Bubbles escaped her lips, floating to the top._

_Six._

_Seven._

_Eight._

_Nine._

_Ten._

_She shot up, her wet hair splashing forward like a Mohawk. She wiped her face, ridding the water from her eyes and pushing her wet locks away._

_"Recite the tenets." He instructed._

_She gasped for a moment, due to the intensity of the whole situation. She took a moment to breath, and she could see him growing visually angry._

_"Recite the tenets, girl."_

_She tucked her wet strands behind her ears, and her lips parted. "One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions. One's body is inviolable, subject to one's own will alone. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own. Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs. People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused."_

_She was out of breath, her lungs overworking as she recited them._

_"Last one, Tatum."_

_"Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word"_

_Despite it being a self-paced ritual, she felt rushed._

_He grabbed her by the arms, his grip tight as he pulled her out of the tub. The water overflowed, splashing on both him and the floor._

_"Father Vul-" She started._

_"Sign the book." He handed her a small knife. She looked up at him with fearful eyes. "Sign it." He urged. It was the first moment she had doubted her future. How sad it felt to think that the future your parents had destined for you to pursue, could possibly be wicked and amoral. Her eyes drifted to the book, and she quivered._

_On that page alone, hundreds of names, all kinds of fonts, were scripted into the brittle pages._

_"Must not waste time, Tatum."_

_He grabbed her hand, his fingers encircling hers, and forced her to cut her other palm._

_She hissed as the blood drew from her had. She had no time to process the pain, as he swatted the bloody knife to the floor, and held her bloody hand over the small bowl beside the book. He gave her a feather and placed it in her clean palm._

_"Sign it."_

_Her jaw was slightly ajar as she puzzled over Vulkavitch's assertive behavior. "Do it now, Tatum." He shouted, frightening ehr. She filled with trepidation as she dipped the feather into the crimson liquid. Another tear was shed as she formed the T in her name. She continued her epitaph, resent for her coven and Vulkavitch growing._

_When she had autographed the last letter of her surname; she dropped the writing instrument. It drifted away from her, flowing left and right as it made it's way to the earth._

_She had imagined some sort of lightning strike, or maybe even a visit from Lucifer. She had imagined the animals going into a frenzy, or something to happen. But no. She was left in felt no different then before, and she did stood there, dumbfounded as her heat drummed loudly in her chest. The wet fabric of her dress clung to her body, bath water still dripping from her._

_Vulkavitch had always envied her father's position. No one suspected a thing when he rammed a sword through her torso, wedging the weapon between her heart._

_Keep your friends close and your enemies closer._

_That was her last thought as her body fell to the floor, eyes rolling into the back of her head._

_Her head hurt when she awoke at the river bend. Her body felt cold. Hr fingers and toes were pruney from the water. When she made it to her fathers house, she felt dizzy. She felt like it was dream. The edges of her vision blurred, her feet swayed as if she didn't know how to walk._

_When the arrow whizzed by her face, startling her from her daze, she knew it was real. She knew it was real from the physical pain she felt in her body when he told her to leave; she knew because it felt worse then her impalement. The only thing she had ever known, her family, were eridicating her from their home. She would only realize till later that it was for the best, but she had never imagined a life without them prior to that._

_When she made her way through the rest of the village, exiting the place where she grew up towards the back of the woods (where her dark baptism had occurred), she knew somehow that it would be the last time she would set foot there._

_She could sense the trail of hunters on her behind. She didn't understand how she could outrun grown men and women, but she couldn't focus on'why' she could only focus on 'where'. Where was she going? Where could she go?_

_"Why are you doing this?" She wailed at them. "What did you do to me?!" _

_She was sobbing as she ran, making it difficult to see where she was going. Her eyesight was extraordinarily well given the time of night. _

_"What's happening to me!" She wept, wiping her wet face._

_She decelerated as she made it to a gap in the trees. Her head darted around, her body making 360's as she tried to listen for the hunters. Her breathing was rapid. her mind was racing. Her steps were quick, but scattered. She felt dizzy. "GO AWAY!" She screamed, still gyrating in the glade. __She fell to her knees, dirt staining her dress. _

_She sobbed into her hands, her body releasing emotions like an overflowing dam._

_Her wailing was loud, but after a minute of tranquility, her sobs grew quieter. She sniveled, wiping face on the sleeve of her damp dress. Her respirations were choppy. She grew stressed as she heard nothing. She knew they were there, she could sense them._

_When a small male stumbled through the trees, tripping forward as if someone had pushed him, she screamed._

_He gasped for air as he held his neck with both hands._

_It took her a moment to see it, but when she saw the red blood seep from the open wound, she ran over to him. hHer first thought was to help. That's what she previously would have done, but she had changed. She was different._

_She whined as she felt a sting in her gums. Her trembling fingers moved to touch her mouth. When she found two pointed teeth in her mouth, she shrieked._

_She knew she didn't want to do it... but she couldn't help herself. It was as if a demon had overcome her body, forcing her mouth to attach himself to his neck._

_That was the first time she had fed._

_It was the first time she had killed._

_It was the first time she had bled a person dry and watched the light drain from their eyes._

_She cried as she slurped back the blood. She enjoyed it, but she hated herself for doing so. She couldn't stop herself. Her arms gripped his shoulders, keeping him upright, and she tore into his neck more. The taste was exhilarating. She could hear the beating of his heart impede as he she fed off of him, and when his body went still, sounds of life vanishing from his body, she released him._

_She looked down at her stained hands. Her dress was died a deep wine color, the ground was covered in pieces of torn flesh and blood that hand not made it past her lips._

_She had killed him. She dropped to her knees, flipping her hands over to check if it was really real, to see if she really had participated in such a torturous act of violence._

_A loud clap came from behind, and she span around on her knees, planting her butt to the floor._

_A slow applaud continued and a shadow emerged from the foliage._

_"I have to admit, I didn't think it would work." Father Vulkavitch fashioned a vile smirk, filling her with trepidation. "But when I found the blood of a heretic, I knew exactly what to do with it."_

_"You killed me..." She breathed, so low that any one out of a 3 foot radius wouldn't have heard her._

_"The council will see your Father unfit to lead the coven; with such an abomination of a daughter."_

_Her mind spiraled back to the chalice. She remembered the wine tasting funny, but she had never tasted wine before so how would she have known? "You poisoned me."_

_"I'm next in line, which makes me the next head of Coven. Do you know that means, Tatum?"_

_"You m-murdered me..."_

_"It means more abilities. It means I am stronger." He knelt to her height, resting his arm on his knee. "It means that I am closer to the dark Lord than I have ever been, and ever will be."_

_"YOU KILLED ME!" She screamed._

_"I would do it again if I had to, too."_

_She charged for him, pushing him over as she spat in his face. "YOU KILLED ME! YOU MURDERED ME! YOU POISONED ME!"_

_Keep your friends close and your enemies closer..._

"TATUM!" Her eyes fluttered open, and she was back to reality.

"YOU KILLED ME! YOU KILLED ME!" She could't help but let the shouts escape, along with the tears and the spit. She felt arms around her face, and she spun around, throwing punches towards the chest of her captor. "YOU MURDERED ME! YOU KILLED ME!" Her hands thumped against their chest, and the captor did his best to defend himself.

"HEY!" The voice screamed in her ear. "WAKE UP!"

She screamed, her words undecipherable now as she sobbed. her punches got weaker. Her wrists were held in the air by someone who fashioned the same strength as her. As she grew weaker, her knees started to shake. "You killed me..." She cried.

"No I didn't kill you. I didn't kill you Tatum... Can you hear me?"

It was Peter's voice.

One hand was tightly encircling her waist, while the other hand was holding her wrist; trying to defend himself from her wrath.

Her weight slipped from beneath her, and she rested on his body. _"You murdered me."_

Her hand dropped, admitting defeat. He released her arm, and his other arm encompassed her frame. He held her upright as she collapsed on top of him. She was barely conscious, but she knew from the warmth radiating off of him that she was safe now, and that it was only a horrid memory surfacing from the darkest part of her mind.

"You're fine," He muttered, "You're okay. You're here."

He clutched her tighter, hand moving to her crown, his fingers entangling in her hair as he embraced her.

She struggled to reciprocate, but her arms dangled over his shoulders.

She heard his low murmurs in her ears. _"You're fine... You're here."  
_

_"He killed me..."_ He could tell consciousness ebbed away from her in that moment, because she collapsed into his arms.

He lowered her limp frame to the ground, trying to find the most comfortable spot for her, not that there was one in this metal fortress. Just like that, she was sound asleep again, no blood-curdling screams, no kicking and punching, nothing. Her chest rose and fell peacefully, and her lips parted slightly as she respired. It was as if nothing happened.

His eyes remained on her for a moment as he turned his body back towards where he had previously been residing.

His body slammed into Tony's and he jumped back. "H-How long have you been standing there?" He asked.

Straight-face, emotions unreadable, he replied with "Long enough to see you handle the situation."

"Yeah, o-okay." He scratched the back of his head and glanced back at her. "Think she's alright?"

He took a moment to himself before nodding. "She tends to push every bad memory into her subconsciousness but eventually things resurface."

"You think she was really murdered?"

He nodded, "I know so, but that's not my story to tell, kid."

He sighed, licking his bottom lip. "Maybe I'll just stay here, to watch her i-in case she wakes up again."

"Whatever you say, Pete." He smirked at him. "Get a good sleep, it's late."

"Yes Mr. Stark, thank you."

He placed a hand on his head, ruffling his mop of hair before walking off.

Peter tried to force an exhausted smile.

He pressed his back against a wall, and slid down it until he hit the floor. He watched her intently, scanning for any sign of distress, but she seemed to be fine now. He clenched his jaw as he watched her, thinking to himself about what could possibly had set her off into such a terror-inducing panic attack.

Whatever it was, he felt tremendous pain for her and her past.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Next chapter is going to drift from her past and explore more of Peter's and discuss the Avengers. In a few chapters, she will meet Captain America, Black Widow, etc., I know it seems confusing but as I've said for the zillionth time, just bare with me. I'm also going to write a chapter solely on Tony and Tatum. Let me know what you think of that idea, and things you'd like to see between them.**

**Littlecosma001: Great I'm glad! I've been on the show a few times and I just love it. Witches and warlocks fascinate me so much, I knew I had to incorporate into a story somehow.**

**xx**


	6. Chapter 6

_Or is it just a fire  
Keeping out the cold_  
_Fear of the unknown  
Turning us to coal_

* * *

"Good morning Pete," She strutted past him, fisting her sleep filled eyes.

He was lounging in a web hammock, his right leg dangling over the edge as he played cradle with his webbing.

"Oh u-uh... Morning Tatum." He looked up from his intense game and gave her a funny look. "Feeling okay?"

She walked past him, leaving him with a tired smile as she made her way over to the others. "Just dandy, Parker."

The doctor sat in a seat facing the front of the ship, watching as stars flew past them. As if watching would make them arrive to Titan any faster. Tony knelt to the floor with one knee, while he focused on a large metallic box.

There was a small door open, almost like a vault, and he worked intently at whatever was inside it. She saw sparks fly as he used his suit to weld something together.

"Whatcha doing little guy?"

"I'm literally going to murder you if you say anything like that ever again. I could do it, you know? Leave you on Titan to starve to death." HE threatened, without peering up at her presence. He glanced down at his watch, typing numbers furiously.

She smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

He sighed, "In laymens terms, I'm trying to recalculate the direction of the ship using mathematical-"

"That's not laymens terms."

He rolled his eyes, picking up a screwdriver from the floor. "I'ts like I'm trying to hot wire a car."

"Ah," She nodded, "That makes more sense."

"You know," He started, "For two hundred and somethin' years old you sure aren't that knowledgeable on much."

"I'm more street smart than book smart. I'll have you know I was artist in my day. And didn't your father ever tell you not to mention a lady's age?"

He grumbled, his eyes lifting to look past her.

Her body rotated towards his line of sight, where she saw Peter watching the two converse.

Stark spoke quieter so Peter's hearing couldn't reach, while he meticulously worked away inside the vault. "So did you have a good sleep?"He asked, licking his bottom lip as he focused on something.

"Nope," She answered; popping the 'p' in the word.

"You remember what happened?"

"Yep."

"Just gonna pretend like you don't remember?"

"Yep," She repeated.

He chuckled, his eyes still glued to his work. "Classic Tatum."

She shrugged, "I'm predictable."

"I disagree," he disputed.

She yawned. Despite it being morning, she still felt so sleepy due to roaming around in the middle of space, where there was barely any light.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" His voice startled her, thinking that they ere done with the previous conversation.

"Yeah, Tony. I worked with your father for a few months. I held you like two days after you were born."

"No," He shook his head, "Like _really _met."

She bit her lip, "I mean, yeah. It was pretty unforgettable."

He lifted a finger, "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

She rolled her eyes, trying to hide the smile as he continued. "I found you in a photo with my father. I found out all these articles about heretics, witches, vampires, werewolves and all that jazz." He grunted as he turned something. She heard the noise of metal scraping metal, which made her wince. "I spent months trying to track you down, which actually was a hell of a lot harder then I had predicted, only to find out you were in the same state as me."

She scratched her nose, wondering what the hell he was trying to get at.

"A few days later I showed up in your apartment."

"Yeah, like you ALWAYS do, unannounced

She heard Peter hop off from his hammock and walk closer to them. She thought he was walking for them, but he strolled past them quietly, undoubtedly listening to their conversation now that he was closer.

"Hey kid," He muttered, before turning back to Tatum and his hot-wiring.

"Morning Mr. Stark."

"You should put better locks on your doors," He acknowledged her again.

"I'm pretty sure I could kick a burglar's ass," She tapped her foot in annoyance. "You should've minded your own business."

He shifted his weight as he worked, glancing up at her for a moment. "You weren't surprised to see me in your apartment."

"No," She concurred, "Because you're pretty bad at hiding your tracks, at least for someone with a heightened sense of smell."

He scratched his scruff of a beard/goatee. "I went to introduce myself but-"

"I already knew who you were."

He nodded up at her. "Yeah."

She nodded awkwardly, "Yeah..."

He put his iron glove back on, his voice louder as he sawed away at something. "You already knew of my existence."

"Yeah," She confirmed, "I knew you since you were born."

He dropped his glove back down as he turned his attention solely to her. "How come you never came to look for me or anything? Try to introduce yourself?"

She grumbled, knowing he knew the answer and that frustrated her. She didn't need Peter and the Doctor knowing her whole life story. "You know why, Stark."

He shook his head, "That's your answer for everything, though. 'I'm bad, I've killed people, blah blah blah'." He sighed. "I'm not exactly a saint either, Tate." She winced at his use of a nickname, finding it very personal. He had called her that a few times before, and she actually admired the nickname, but she felt weird when he used it when talking about something so serious.

"Whats with the heartfelt talk all of a sudden, Tony?" She asked, trying to avoid the question.

He scratched his disheveled head of hair. "I mean, I just thought if we were gonna die out here I wanna know why you've been such a pain in my ass my whole life." She was the Tony Stark she knew.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed for the zillionth time. "I'm not kidding when I say everyone around me dies, Tony. Do you know what that's like? Do you know what's it like to have to run away from hunters every few years when they catch up to you? Do you know what it's like to come back and figure out the friends or lovers you made are now in a nursing home sitting in diapers, or worse, dead?"

He clenched his jaw, silent as he listened.

"The hunters use people I care about as leverage. They use it to taunt me, to tame me. Caring is weak. Loving is weak. I can't fall back into the same patterns, because somehow I always end up back at square one; alone." She stabbed a finger at his shoulder. "That's why when I met **you, **you screwed it all up." She exhaled a large amount of air that she hadn't realized she had been holding. "It may not be beating, but as a matter of fact; I do have a heart."

She was bewildered to see the corner of his lips quirk up. It grew into an evil smirk, and he chuckled. "So you admit, you care."

"I hate you."

"You care a little bit," He pinched his fingers together, squinting one eye.

"I actually hate you."

"Yeah, okay whatever you say you old fart."

She could feel her eyes change to crimson red color as she felt her humanity falter. "Someone's got a temper." He mentioned in regards to her vampiric state. She hissed at him, fangs barred in an attempt to urge him to back off, but he was unphased by her appearance; having seen it before. He pointed to the top of her head. "Hey, is that a grey hair I see?"

"Ugggh!" She grumbled, "You're insufferable." She wiped her face with both hands, scrubbing at it in frustration as her face shifted back to normal. She pivoted away, stomping off in the other direction. "Better sleep with one eye open tonight, won't make it to Titan if you keep talking to me like that!"

"Yeah sure! Whatever you say. Hey- remind me to put you in the nursing home when we get back; you're starting to lose your temper and I'd rather pay someone else to deal with it."

She stomped away from him, lifting one hand in the air to flip him the bird as she walk towards the back of the ship.

"Where are you going?" Peter hollered from beside Dr. Strange, who was startled by his shouting.

"To find clothes, food for ya'll maybe. A washroom- or something to piss in!"

Tony couldn't be more wrong. She didn't care. She'd rather be at home, nursing a glass of red wine without having to introduce herself and tell her life story to complete strangers. It was bad enough that Tony, Pepper, and Happy (sorta) knew. Those were three people that could be used as leverage. Those were people she actually admired and actually wanted them to have a good life.

Okay... maybe she did care.


	7. Chapter 7

_You think you know who you are_

_You don't know me at all_

_I can still feel in the dark_

* * *

"Can I help you, Spider-boy?" Tatum was crouched to the floor, inspecting a panel of buttons in attempt to oped the door next to her. She heard him approaching quietly behind her, and when his footsteps behind her seized she addressed his presence.

She had been wandering around the small compound, investigating what she could. She had found some sort of restroom, which was more like a small closet and with a lifted hole in the floor. Almost like a porta-potty or an airplane toilet. There was no active flushing feature, nor toilet paper, but to fair she didn't actually know how aliens shit or pissed anyways.

The space that they were in was wide, splitting into two levels, the top one looking down to the bottom, but there wasn't much there. She found somewhat edible material from hidden cabinet at the very back of the ship, which would be enough for a few days for the others if they rationed it. The food inside there was inhuman like, consisting of dead, smaller aliens and blue-colored liquids. There were also some starch-like food, as well as some sort of vegetables. Surprisingly, she saw a few, mundane-looking apples.

"I-Its Spider-Man," She turned to face the boy, seeing him pout angrily.

"Okay, _Spider-Man_," She rolled her eyes playfully, as she turned back to the panel, pressing numerous buttons near the side door to open the gate. Since the whole space ship was built like a flying doughnut, their had to be other compounds, a lot, actually. "What is it that you want?"

"Nothing, I mean- I just wanted to see what's up, how's it going?" He asked her awkwardly, rubbing his forearms. She saw that he was clad in almost normal looking clothes. He wore a hoodie, that was a little too large for him, and had an extra arm whole for some 3-armed species, but he tucked the extra arm in the pockets. As for his bottoms, he wore only his boxers decorated with hot dogs.

"I see you found a change of clothes," She observed, her eyes wandering up and down to check his outfit out. "Nice boxers, by the way." She stood, wandering past him and listening to him follow her like a lost puppy. "Kind of an odd innuendo, hot dogs, hey?"

His face flushed as she looked back at him with a coy smirk. She watched as he writhed uncomfortably in his garments, his eyes darting from his boxers back up to her, who was already a few steps ahead again. "What? No!"

"I'm just kidding, Spider-boy," She chuckled, walking up the stairs to the next level.

The wizard walked past her, giving her a nod of acknowledgment as their bodies slid past each other.

"Everyone else is comfortable," He argued, which was true. She wore black jeans, combat boots, and a striped fitted t-shirt with a black sweater, while Tony had clothes under his suit, and Dr. Strange had the cape to comfort him.

"Well where are your clothes?" She questioned, listening to her boots hit the metallic stairs underneath her.

"I left them on the bus."

"The bus, eh? How old are you again?"

"I'm sixteen," He answered with an annoyed tone. "And do you know how awkward that sleep was last night? I barely slept, well I mean I woke up as well because you-"

She cut him off, not wanting to explain last night's charades to a mere stranger. "Is there anything I can help you with?" She sighed, turning back around to face him once she made it to the top floor. She shot him a fake smile, hoping he'd pick up the hint to stop annoying her.

He bumped into her from her sudden stop, and jumped back; startled. "I just thought you needed some help, you know, have a friend help you out."

She frowned at him, her dark brows knitting together, "We're not friends, Parker," She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't even know who you are."

He scratched his messy dark hair, "I mean I introduced myself to you, saved your life,"

"I would've come back to life,"

"Well still," He grumbled.

"I saved your skull from cracking," She countered.

"And I saved you back, from getting stuck in the middle of space, frozen for eternity while you starved to death from the lack of blood, or maybe your head would explode, or maybe a spaceship would've-"

"Okay, I got your point." She pointed to herself, "My point," She emphasized, "Is that I don't have friends."

"Really, not even one?" He let out an awkward breath of air as his squinted at her.

"Well," She shrugged, "Whiskey is my friend."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm serious, no one? Tony?"

"Tony's tolerable," She pointed down at him, "And I don't actively try to hang out with him, or Pepper, he just shows up in my apartment."

His eyes darted from her quickly, then back to her as he mumbled to himself. "That's annoying." He shook his head, averting his attention back to the conversation.

"I went over dinner for there once... _ONCE_... and it was the biggest regret of my life. I sat there and watched them eat while they bickered the whole time."

"How about your neighbors? Someone you've met while going for food? Doing yoga or something that girls do?"

She sighed in annoyance, stomping off in the other direction. She grumbled slightly when she heard him follow. She lifted a finger, not facing him this time as she spoke. "One: I don't eat food. I just steal blood from hospitals, and I don't think the nurses would want to befriend me after seeing a pile of O positive in my backpack. Two: I know you were listening to Tony's and I conversation with your spidey-boy hearing," She tapped her ear, "Didn't you hear the whole 'Everyone I love dies' spiel?" She wasn't even going to address the yoga thing. Did she look like someone who did yoga?

To be honest, she didn't know where she was going. There wasn't much going on beside's some beams, the exit door of the ship, and the washroom upstairs. All she knew, was that she didn't feel like chatting at the moment. She needed to figure out how she wasn't going to go insane from the spider-puppy following her, her great great nephew... was there another great in there? She didn't care. And oh ya, the wizard. He was sort of interesting, maybe she would converse with him later.

He was left with an uncomfortable pause as she made her way over to a curved beam. She sat on the curved beam, facing the back of the ship, and she pulled her feet up to press against the wall. She removed her sweatshirt, placing it behind her bed to act as a pillow.

"Are you going to sleep?" He asked in shock, watching her gt comfortable.

"What else is there to do?" She asked.

She had a point. He sighed, "Well we could talk, get acquainted."

"Or," she responded snidely, "You can go kiss Mr. Stark's ass like you usually do." She rotated away, her back to him.

"I don't kiss his ass- and you don't even know me." He argued.

"I know enough," She retaliated, "Stark doesn't shut up."

"Mr. Stark talks about me?"

She chuckled at the formal reference he gave Tony. "He talks about a lot. I basically know every Avenger's life story, including yours; Parker."

"That's nice, that's comforting." He replied sarcastically.

"Yeah so there's no point in taking about Ned, or Michelle, or your Aunt, or anyone for that matter since I've probably heard it all. Oh, and the Vulture? Yeah I remember hearing about him on the news. You didn't do half bad there, I'll admit that."

He was shocked to hear his friends names coming out of her mouth, having little interaction with the heretic. He knew all about her and she knew nothing about him. "Are you at least going to tell us what you found?"

Without facing him, she pointed around her. "Washrooms over there, there's some sort of fridge looking thing that way, I found some stuff downstairs as well, but you can figure that all out, entertain yourself a little. Now go annoy Tony, before I kick you off the ledge, kid."

He frowned at her unfriendly tone, but obeyed her suggestion and walked down to see Tony lounging in the pilot chair, while the wizard was nowhere to be. He approached him, feet shuffling lazily as he stepped on a metal plank.

"What's up, kid? Nice boxers."

He sighed in frustration, moving to the seat beside Tony. "How much longer till we get there?" He asked. He doubt he could take much longer being on the same spacecraft as the girl.

"well yesterday I said seven days-ish... so uh-" He looked down at his wrist, finding nothing there as he spoke back to Peter sarcastically, "Six days."

He sighed again, adjusting himself more comfortably in the chair.

"She's quite the character isn't she?" He nodded above them in reference to Tatum.

"No kidding." Peter replied.

"Not really the social type. A little rough around the edges but once you get to know here she's a little... less rough around the edges." That was the politest way Tony could put her. "So did she find food for us growing boys?"

"Uh, yeah," He answered despondently. "Somewhere upstairs, I think."

Tony responded with an "ah" but he wasn't that interested, he just watched Peter. Peter seemed distracted as he fiddled with his fingers in his lap.

"May's probably okay, right?"

Tony turned towards the boy that he grew fondly of. "I'm sure she is, kid. Pepper know's I'm here, she probably told May; I'm sure Happy would've taken them to the compound." Normally he could give less of a shit then to spend his time consoling the boy, but he had nothing better to do.

Peter rested his chin on his fist as his elbow leaned on the armchair. "If you annoy her enough, she'll eventually talk to you." Tony mentioned. "That's what I did, at least. She started leaving her apartment unlocked. She won't say she likes me, but she does a little bit, I think."

"Yeah she's sort of scary.." He replied, "Like not because she's a hair-tick but-"

"It's 'heratic'" Tony cut off.

"Yeah, that," He nodded. "Not because she's a heratic, but because she's-"

"Snappy?"

"Yeah."

"Cold?" He started listening other synonyms for her. "Irritable? Bad-tampered? Petulant?"

"Yeah, yeah." Peter answered. "Those." Peter was worried her super-hearing would kick in and they would hear her gossiping about them and rip their heads off. There was long pause before he spoke again. "Mr. Stark?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think her dream was about?"

"Again Pete, not my story to tell."

"Whatever it was, it seemed bad." Peter deduced. "Real bad. Like PTSD bad."

"I suppose even the supernatural can get PTSD, and even two hundred years and counting can't rid that; but you can't really talk to a counselor about killing hundreds of people and being murdered."

He winced at the word 'killing' and 'murdered'. At least he got a few answers out of that sentence. He was just very curious.

"If she's killed, why is she an avenger then? Aren't we all about saving people?" He tried to hide his excitement at his use of the word 'we'. He couldn't believe he was an avenger now. Did that make him always an avenger? Or when they got back to earth would his status be revoked? Ned would go insane.

"That was a long time ago," He explained, "She's not like that anymore. She puts up this whole big bad wolf vibe, but inside she's more like red riding hood. She just doesn't like to get close to people, for obvious reasons like immortality, of course."

He pondered over his words, wondering what the girl had seen over such a long time period of time. Decades and decades... over two centuries of life. She had lived through so many different trends, so many wars, so many presidents, so many different fashion era's He wondered what her favorite one was. Had she ever had friends? Partners? Pets? Where had she lived? How many countries had she been in? What was her family like?

He looked over to Stark, who nervously rubbed his facial hair while staring out to the black abyss that was space. There was no signs of planets near by, only billions and billions of stars. Peter wished he was back on that bus with his friends, and that everyone was safe and aliens didn't take over the earth.

"I hate just sitting here, waiting."

Peter knew the feeling. He wished he could do something. He was actually bored. _Bored, _while aliens invaded the earth and the other avengers where god knows where.

"I have no idea if the others even know what's going on. I called Cap, left him a voicemail."

"Captain America?"

He sighed, "Yes Pete, who else?"

"Right.." Peter felt stupid, but the thought quickly dissipated as he continued. "There's no cell service either, I checked."

"How can you be so smart, yet so stupid at the same time?"

Peter frowned at the remark. "You never know."

Tony dismissed his look of disappointment as he spoke again. "If there was some way to talk to them, this would be a lot easier. I have no idea-"

"I have an idea."

Her voice echoed throughout the compound, and both Peter and Tony looked up at her while she spoke down to them from the above floor.

"And what's that, Tate?"

She crossed her arms over her body and smirked. Her lips bashfully quirking up, an expression she often fashioned; Peter learned.

Her plump, pale lips parted as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Astral-projection."

* * *

"Okay, okay. I found candles, or at least something to burn." Peter approached Tatum, who was sitting on the cold floor, waiting for them to assemble. "I don't really know what they are. What do I do with them?"

"Place them around me," She ordered, "I need at least six or seven."

He looked down at the bundle of items in his arms. He counted seven, and started placing them around her body. He placed one far from her head, as she would eventually have to lie flat on the floor.

Dr. Strange approached them, shuffling to her side and leaning down. "So how long do you have, again?"

"About nineteen to twenty minutes before the psychopomps come." She answered, removing her sweater and boots.

"Remind me what the hell are we doing again?" Tony placed himslef on the floor in front of her feet, his arm fashioning his Iron-man glove in ordered to lit the candle-like objects. They weren't technically candles, just some sort of floating orb with a wick at the top that they could burn.

"Astral-projection," She rolled her eyes at Tony. "I'll be here... but sort of there as well. Physically, I'll be lying here breathing and such, but I'm going through different planes of existence so I can see the others. Almost like a ghost of me, except that I'm not dead. Doc's gonna time me to make sure that I don't die, if I'm under too long the psychopomps will get me."

"And what exactly are those?" Dr. Strange raised a brow.

"They look like birds, but they're spiteful little assholes" She spat bitterly. "They're like carriers of death. If I'm projecting, they'll assume I'm dead and take me to the 'hereafter', and I'll actually be gone at that point."

"And how do we wake you up?"

"I can still hear you guys if you yell loud enough, but you won't be able to hear the others."

"What about you?" Peter asked, "Can we hear you?"

Tatum shrugged, "A few words or murmurs maybe, but not much."

"So what do we do if we cant wake you up?" Tony asked, "Not that I care about you, but we could really use the help to kick Thanos' little purple ass."

She shrugged again, her small shoulders rolling back in her striped shirt. "In that case, see you around you little annoying asshole," She addressed Peter, "Doc, you're actually pretty dope so stay dope, I guess. Tony, you can have my apartment, but don't look under the bed, whatever you do, don't look under the bed."

"What's under the bed?" Peter made a face, a small crease forming on his forehead.

"Don't worry about it kid," She shooed him off, and fell back, her body flat. "I'm going to say the spell, when I'm done, light the candles and hold your hands around me."

The three male's looked to one another.

"What," She frowned, lifting her head to look at them. "Are you serious? Are men that pretentious they can't hold a man's hand without feeling weird about it?"

"Just do the spell, Tate." Tony yelled, causing a laugh to escape from her.

Tatum closed her eyes, smiling at the nickname had given her. She was quite fond of it, actually. Maybe she'd start going by it now. "Oh, and the birds will start appearing. They'll start appearing one by one. I'll see them on my side too. Once we get to around five of them, we're close to our time limit. Got it?"

She looked at the doctor, trusting him as he was more experienced on the topic of time.

He nodded.

She nodded thankfully back, then rested her head against the floor again.

_"Nunc somno Luciferius custodiet me. Si mori eaque permitte mihi munus ad inferos." _Peter wondered what the Latin meant. All he understood was 'Lucifer'. He wondered how she had learned the spell, if there was some sort of book or if years of practice made her remember. He would ask her, but she scared the hell out of him. _"Nunc somno Luciferius custodiet me. Si mori eaque permitte mihi munus ad inferos."_

"Light them up, Stark." The doctor ordered.

"Yeah, I got it Doc." He jeered. "Give me a sec." He extended his arm out, shooting beams of fire out to each sphere. They watched each wick of the sphere light up, and waited for her to do something.

"_Nunc somno Luciferius custodiet me. Si mori eaque permitte mihi munus ad inferos." _Their gazes were on her. They watched her lips move rapidly, chanting the lines over and over until finally, her head lolled to the side and she went quiet.

"Is it working?" Peter asked, joining hands with the Doctor and Tony. "Did it work?"

"I think so," Dr. Strange responded. "Give it a few minutes."

They were silent for a few seconds, then out of nowhere her head started spasming rapidly, her neck twisted, her head bashing against the floor and her hair went flying everywhere.

"What the hell's going on?" Peter asked. He went to remove his hand, but the doctor held him tighter. "No! No don't let go. We can't break the chain." Peter relaxed. They watched her body seizing on the floor, legs kicking left and right as her body shook relentlessly.

"Mr. Stark what's happening?" He asked, yelling over the loud clangs of metal from her head bashing into the metal. He went bug eyed as he saw blood start to seep from a cut on her forehead. "She's bleeding."

"She'll heal, just wait kid."

Peter did what he was told, but not before using his foot to slide her hoodie underneath her head.

As if a switch had been flipped, she went still. They were left silent again , the only sound being the hum of the space craft.

Tony grew worried. It was obvious to the others as well. They all anxiously shared a look, both the doc and Peter stared at Tony for answers, as if he'd magically know what to do. How would he know if she was alive? She had no heartbeat... Would her face or skin color change or anything? Tony was smart, sure, but he had no idea what the hell he was doing when it came to Tatum. They always had an odd relationship. He'd basically had to beat information out of her at times. A few weeks ago, they were lounging on the couch, Tatum pretending (as usual) that she was bored while they watched Cloverdale for the third time, one of her favorites. Now, he was enduring in sort of ritual with a wizard and its magical cape, and a sixteen-year old kid.

He prayed to God, or Lucifer, or whoever the Hell would listen that her being was safe.

Shit. This was way over his head...

* * *

**I'm not sure if people are reading this, but I'll continue this story anyways as my creative juices are flowing and I gotta get my endgame and Spider-Man feels out.**

**Please let me know what you think.**

**xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

_Stood at the cold face_  
_Stood with our backs to the sun_  
_I can remember being nothing but fearless and young_  
_We've become echoes, but echoes, they fade away_

* * *

Her body felt colder as she appeared on the quinjet. She expected to only see Steve Rogers; as that was the person she was searching for when she recited the ritual. Instead, he was joined by others including Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Vision, and who she deduced to be Wanda; the scarlet witch.

They were all bickering, and by the ashamed expression Vision and Wanda wore, she assumed the blame was placed on them.

"I thought we had a deal," Natasha's voice was much softer then Tatum expected. She thought highly of the trained assassin, actually admired her slightly. "Stay close, check in, don't take any chances," She listed off through gritted teeth.

The back door of the quinjet was starting to close. Tatum watched through the small opening as they lifted off the ground, the nightlife below getting increasingly smaller the higher they went.

"I'm sorry..." Wanda sheepishly replied, "We just wanted time." Her arm was strung across Vision, who looked in a rough shape; although it was hard to make that conclusion because of the way he looked.

Tatum analyzed the aircraft, wishing much more that she was here on earth rather than some flying saucer in the middle of space. The Avengers were suited up and Tatum wondered if they ever took their outerwear off.

Tony didn't express much liking towards Captain Rogers, but that didn't mean he didn't speak about him. Sure, she had seen him on television and infomercials, but seeing him in person; she was almost star-struck. His hair was longer then she was used to seeing in pictures. It was brushed back, and he grew out a lengthy beard. She actually thought he looked _better, _but with being on the run after the Sokovia Accords, it made sense to her. Not much of a disguise, but made him a little less recognizable. She was also surprised to see how tall he truly was next to her 5"7 frame.

She lurked behind them for a moment, eyeing them as they all faced the front of the jet. Sam was piloting it. His hands clutched to the steering control tightly as he hovered in the air.

"Where to Ca- What the fuck." He did a double take as he leaned over his chair, locking eyes with Tatum. "Who the hell are you?"

In unison, four more heads turned her way.

Hastily, almost as fast as Tatum, Natasha bolted over and lifted her leg to do a round house kick. Normally, Natasha would've hit her foe in the side, knocking them over.

Tatum just watched them, blinking as the spot where Natasha had kicked dissipated into mist, then reformed itself. Natasha almost fell over from the lack of contact, not having predicted the failed connection.

Natasha frowned in bewilderment, pivoted and then span to go in for a punch.

Her head swirled again in a weird mist, then pieced back together.

"What the hell..." She muttered under her breath. Her dark brows twitched as her face wrinkled in confusion.

"Uh-Cap? What do I do?" Sam called from the front, trying to decide whether he should look at the girl that had mysteriously appeared on their ship, or their path of flight.

Steve took a stride towards her. "Who are you?" His voice was strident.

"I can explain," She held her arms up innocently as she took a cautious step towards them.

"Woah! Woah..." Natasha jumped in front of Steve, startled by her movement. she pulled a blade out from her pocket, protectively holding it in front of her.

Tatum cocked her head, "I gotta tell you sis, while that's a pretty sick weapon you got there, it's not going to touch me."

"What are you?" Steve took a bold step forwards, lifting his hand in the air to touch her. She watched, and the others waited hesitantly for him to make contact. As expected though, his hand swiped right through her, and her body distorted for a moment before forming back.

They all analyzed the young girl who mysteriously appeared on their jet, not announcing her arrival to anyone until Sam had noticed her.

"Are you a ghost?" Sam asked from up front.

"What?" She grimaced, "No. No I'm not a ghost." She dropped her palms down again. "I'm here on behalf of that dim-witted big-headed asshole you folks call Iron-Man. You know, pretty short? Dark hair? Not that great looking despite being a billionare?"

"How do you know Tony?" In any other situation, Cap would've chuckled at the girl's comical description of Tony; but at the moment he was stunned with stupefaction.

"I'm a relative of his, it's a long story," She replied. "I don't have much time though."

"Stark has family?" Natasha shared a look with Steve.

Tatum knew this wasn't going to be easy, and she expected a lot of questions but her and the others hadn't really discussed a plan before she went under.

Vision straightened, Wanda holding him as he looked to Tatum. His eyes went wide, and he was hit with realization. "Ms. Tatum Stark." Wanda muddled over his knowledge of the girl; as did everyone else.

Tatum nodded, surprised he was aware of her existence, but then she remembered who Vision was and how he came to be those few years ago. "Yeah, yeah. That's me." She saluted them, "Reporting for duty."

The others didn't seem to appreciate her humour.

"It's a pleasure to acquaint you." Vision bowed his head.

"You too," She threw him a courteous nod back. Her eyes darted back to Natasha and The Captain.!"Anyways, I don't have much time before they get me." She continued to speak, not allowing Natasha to intervene; who she assumed was going to question who 'they" ' were. "Just listen to me, and I can explain everything in a few days when I charge back up again."

"Charge up?" Natasha asked.

"Cap?" Sam repeated, trying to tow the attention away from Tatum. "Where to?"

They all leaned towards Sam, "Home, Sam. Take us home."

Tatum licked her lips, awkwardly waiting until their attention drew back to her. She was overwhelmed meeting so many people all at once.

"_Is it working?"_ She heard Peter's voice ring in her ears.

_"I don't know- Just be quiet kid." _That was definitely Tony.

She clutched the side of her head, squinting her eyes as she tried to focus. There was a buzz in her ears, as if there was bad reception or something. Her ears rang like tinnitus and her head ached slightly.

"_Think she can hear us?"_

_"I don't know,"_ Tony growled, "_How would I know if she could?"_

"Oh Satan," She cursed, hitting the left side of her head with her palm. "Shut up!" She rubbed her temples to rid the headache that was transforming to a migraine.

"What the hell is going on with her?" Wanda asked, speaking for the first time since her arrival. They stared at her like she was having a drug-induced episode or a schizophrenic occurence.

"I-It's Tony." Tatum elucidated. "He's being too loud, as usual."

_"She said something."_ The doctor announced in her head. _"I heard her say something."_

_"So did I,"_ Peter chimed in "_I did too. She said 'loud' I think._"

She tried to tune them out. She clenched her jaw, tucking her golden hair behind her ear as she returned back to the others. "I can hear them, I'm with them. I'm here too, but not really. My body's with them."

"And how in the hell did you manage that?" Sam yelled from up front.

"Astral-projection," She retorted, "That's a story for another time though. Captain, I need to speak to you."

Steve nodded, brows lowering discerningly as he looked at the girl. he took an apprehensive step towards her, and he swallowed. "What is it?"

_"Tatum, if you can hear me," _She heard Tony in her head, "_Ask him if he got my message. If he did, what the hell is he doing right now?"_

She licked her lips, squinting her eyes to try to focus on Tony's voice. When she had received the message, her eyelids flew open and she looked back to a startled Steve Rogers. "He told me to ask you if you got his voicemail."

Cap nodded at her, uneasiness still etched on his structured face.

"He want's to know where you guys are..." She gestured around them, "Or where we are, rather."

"Scotland," He answered, still frowning.

"Scotland? What? Okay... uh-"

"We were rounding up these two," Natasha added, pointing to the huddled couple in the corner of the aircraft. Wanda shot her a guilty look.

"_Think she heard that?" _Peter questioned.

She rolled her eyes, causing Cap and Natasha to share a look that said 'what the hell is wrong with this girl'. Normally, she'd call them out on it but she was running out of time.

"_Pete, shut up."_

_"It'll be confusing for the girl if too many of us talk." _The wizard added, supporting Tony's order.

_"Right-Sorry... Sorry Tatum." _

She sighed at the boy's apology. She would kick his ass later for wasting time.

"So where are you-we- going now?" She asked, pointing towards the front of the aircraft. "Back to the compound?"

"Precisely," The Captain answered. "Despite recent events-"

"The accords?" She gathered, right brow arched.

"Yes" He nodded, "So you're up to date?"

"On most things," She answered, shrugging. "I don't listen to his rambling all the time, though."

Cap had a hint of a smile on his face, that vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"So you're going back to the compound, what's the plan?" She asked, crossing her arms. Her questions were hastily spat out.

Natasha cocked a brow, mimicking the same pose as Tatum as they waited for Steve to reply. "Rhodey's there, I'm assuming you know who that is?"

She nodded.

"We gotta round up everyone we can get and figure out what to do." Cap explained.

"With the world being assimilated by aliens, right?" She lifted a finger, "By the way, they are ugly mother-fuckers, but quite strong."

Natasha frowned, "Yeah we know. So what are you here for? What's your MO?"

"_Tate, ask them if Vision still has the Mind Stone." _She looked at Vision, who still had the yellow stone centered on his forehead. She had no need to ask, she looked back to Natasha.

"Stark, the wizard, Spider-boy and I are stuck in a flying space-doughnut in Satan knows where," She continued, "We're headed to Titan."

"Titan?" Cap asked. "Why aren't you turning back?"

"Hey, Cap?" Sam called out, eyes still remaining towards the front of the aircraft.

At the same moment Sam adressed Steve, she heard the chirping of the first bird.

"Shit," She cursed.

Cap and Natasha did a quick take towards her, then back to the pilot. "What is it, Sam?"

"There's a... a bird."

"What do you mean?"

There was another chirp. Confusion spread across their faces, growing and spreading like a wild fire.

It started chirping louder. They found the source of the noise at the front of the dashboard, standing at an open area where there were no buttons. It chirped again, flapping its wings as it cocked his head around, beak opening and closing.

"How did that happen?" Natasha asked, pressing her plump lips together.

"It's not real, don't worry about it." Tatum clapped, "Focus on me."

"_Mr. Stark? There's a bird behind you."_ Peter informed them. At the same time the bird in her mind chirped, the bird on the dashboard beside Sam did as well.

"_Nine minutes,"_ She heard the Doctor say.

"I'm running out of time," she briefed the others. "I have to make it quick." Her eyes darted rapidly from face to face as she tried to rush her words.

"_Tatum, tell them what's going on, tell them we're stuck in a space doughnut half way across the galaxy, headed for the purple bastard. Tell them we'll be on Titan in 5 to 6 days and that we're going to try to take down grimace." _She smirked at the name-calling of Thanos, thinking about the short legged purple character that she saw on the television years ago.

"Stark says to tell you that we're in space, and that we're headed for Thanos. He doesn't want to fight him on earth, seeing as we all know how catastrophic he can be," They all nodded simultaneously. "Doc's got the time stone, we're gonna hold on to it. Meanwhile you guys gotta do what you normally do, save people and stuff."

Cap nodded.

"Keep the rock safe," She pointed to vision, primarily his forehead. "Make sure Thanos doesn't get it." She said the obvious, but the others still listened to her. "I presume there will be more coming, Thanos seems to have an endless army." She added.

"We'll take care of it." Cap responded.

"Cap, there's another bird."

Her head twitched towards Sam, who was staring wide-eyed at the small sparrow-like bird, who was also tweeting now. A few seconds later, another appeared. They all twitched around, cocking their heads and dancing around on the dash.

"What are they doing here?" Wanda asked.

"They're here for me." Tatum informed them, "They're not really birds. They're avengers of death. Just give me a few more minutes." She continued, "We wont make it to Titan for another five or six days. He'll want me to check in every once in a while, I'll do the best I can."

"So we're basically using you as a telephone? You're going to tell Tony all of this?" Nat asked in concern "How can we trust you?"

"Don't shoot the messenger," She lifted her hands in the air innocently, then cocked her head to the side to reconsider her words. "Well actually, I wouldn't die anyways; but you get the point."

"_Mr. Stark theres more birds."_

_"I know Pete, I can hear them. I'm not deaf."_

_"4 more minutes." _The Doctor enlightened her.

Her eyes darted from person to person. She couldn't believe she was actually astral-projecting from a spacecraft driving on auto-pilot towards a death wish, and standing in front of Captain America, Black Widow, Scarlett Witch, Vision and Falcon. She didn't desire to be there, but Tony dragged her into this mess. He better have gotten her out of it, too.

"Are you gonna tell us what you are? How you can do this?" Natasha asked. "If we're running out of time, the least you can do is give us some answers. How do we know you're actually with Tony?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Okay, fine blondie"

It was clear that the Black Widow didn't appreciate the nickname.

"I'm Tony's great great great Aunt" Had she gotten it right that time? "Or something or other. I don't know. I'm a 216 year old hybrid, there's some info about it at the base. I'm basically just using a spell to project myself here through an alternate reality type vortex. Stark forced me to lend a helping hand and now-"

There was another chirp, and she grew nervous as she saw the four psychopumps sitting carelessly beside Sam, dancing on the dash and tapping their feet against the hard plastic.

"Dammit Satan." They all made a face at her use of the word 'Satan' as oppose to 'God' when she cursed. "Just do me a favor and try to not get yourselves killed. We're all going to be a little while,"

"_Three minutes"_

"Ugggh!" She groaned, feeling like she had barely had a chance to speak to them. "I'm going to try to check in tomorrow. How long do you think until you get back home?"

"A few hours yet," Sam hollered back. "Tell Tony that we said 'Screw the accords' and that we're going back home for the others, then we're going to duck out to wherever we have to and bring the fight to us."

"How will you be so sure they'll follow you?" Tatum asks.

"We aren't." Cap answered. "That's about as much of a plan as we got, though."

She nodded, muddling over the information. Her eyes dropped to the floor. "Okay... yeah."

"_Two minutes."_

The birds chirped louder, jumping and dancing ina frenzy which startled Sam. "What's up with them?"

"They're waiting to take me," She explained. "Look- Okay so when you get back to the base, I'll check back in and we'll go from there. Got it?"

They all nodded. It seemed like they weren't so distrusting of her anymore, which was concerning sicne she had only had not even a twenty minute conversation with them and they were the 'Avengers'.

"We were just fighting with two of the aliens." Natasha directed at her, "The male seemed seriously injured, but the female wasn't. They just beamed up into the sky and flew off. My bet is that they'll come looking for us. In fact, I'm almost sure of it."

"You're saying that like it's a good thing," Tatum countered.

"Well that's what you wanted to hear, right?"

Tatum sighed, she didn't know what she wanted to here.

"Are the others safe?" Wanda spoke up, clutching Vision tighter to her.

Tatum stared at her for a moment, taking in her pale face and her petite features. Her hair was long and wavy, her clothes were stained with blood and debris. Curiosity tainted her face, and Tatum nodded. "Yeah, they're safe; as far as I know." She pointed above them, "We're all good up there, but I haven't spoken to anyone else yet."

"Good," Cap nodded, "That's good."

"_59 seconds left Tatum," _

Another bird materialized in front of the, and one by one they all started hopping off the dashboard and onto the floor. They chirped louder, causing the others to cover their ears, and they all advanced towards her.

"That's my cue," She told them.

"Wait," Steve held out his hand to halt her.

"What is it, Stevie?"

He had no time to muse over the nickname that the total stranger had labelled him, so he ignored it. "Tell Tony to stay safe."

She nodded, surprised at his politeness. Had it been years since Tony and Steve had spoke? There seemed to be a sort of battle for power there, but the two seemed more like an old married couple then anything, Tatum thought. It was apparent that Steve stilled cared for Tony, despite the civil war that had happened so long ago. She knew Tony cared for him as well.

She nodded, giving him a gentle smile. "For sure, Cap. I'll pass it along."

He gave her one quick not, as if to salute her on her journey.

The birds started chirping loudly as they came closer and closer to her. She moved a couple steps back before saying her last words. "Oh, and Cap?"

"Yes?" He responded.

"I like the hair and the beard." She made a swirling gesturing around the lower half of his face. "Suits you, keep it up." She threw a playful wink at him, smirking before she chanted her spell. "Redde me meo, ut me meae. Fac nos unum iterum."

The five of them watched as her body drifted away like a sea breeze, nothing left but a cold air filling the room. They all just puzzled over what had occurred. it was all too quick for any of them to process. Cap thought about what had just happened, and if he trusted the girl.

There was no time for trust right now, they needed all the help they could get. What reason would the girl have to lie? What benefit would it have given her? Although, if Tony knew her, why hadn't he mentioned her before? How could she have possibly been his aunt? The girl hadn't looked a day over 17. She had said she was 216 years old, that was impossible. Although in his case, he should've looked much older than he really was, so maybe she was in a similar situation. He would be sure to file through Tony's stuff later to learn more about her.

"The birds are gone," Nat told him. Steve looked around to try to find them, he came up empty; confirming Natasha's observation. They vanished like a cloud of fog, as if they were never there. "What do we do, Steve?" Natasha addressed him.

He calculated over her words for a long moment. 'Keep the rock safe' 'Try not to get killed'

"We listen to her." Steve told the others. HE waited for a response, and when he saw them all nodding, he relaxed and moved to take a seat beside Sam. The others tried to get comfortable as they still had a while to go before they returned home. Steve heard Vision and Wanda muttering to herself, and Natasha lay horizontally across the seats in the back of the jet, trying to get some shut eye.

"What you thinking about, Cap?" Sam asked keenly.

_'"I like the hair and the beard. Suits you. Keep it_ up." He never thought about his changed appearance over the couple of years. he hadn't had access to shaving supplies every single day, but maybe it looked better then he thought. Maybe he would keep it, if that's what others thought of it. He smiled to himself before speaking back to Sam.

"Nothing."

* * *

**A/N: I know this is bad on my part, but I went back and made Tatum a little more hostile in chapter 4, towards Peter anyways. I feel like Tatum is very secure in her own personal bubble, and she doesn't want to open up to anyone, except she's sort of forced to with everyone else. As well as Peter is annoying it out of her. **

**As for this chapter, I hope you enjoy, and it won't be the last you'll see of these guys interacting with Tate.**

**I have a few future chapters written out, as there are specific moments that I had in my mind which made me write this story, but if you guys want to see anything in the upcoming chapters, I may incorporate it.**

**Enjoy, and please let me know what you think as I really appreciate it and love hearing reviews more then anything.**

**xx**

**ThatNerd1: Maybe we'll find out, or maybe we won't! What do you thinks under there?**


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